9781422279663

The Scope of the Problem 9

O’Conner is not alone in surviving an overdose. Many aren’t so lucky, though.

Hard Numbers The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued an alert about the epidemic of drug overdose deaths in the United States. More than six out of ten overdose deaths involve an opi- oid . Opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. From 2000 to 2015 that figure equaled more than 500,000 deaths. That works out to a figure of 91 Americans dying each day from opi- oid overdoses. More than a thousand people a day are treated in emergency rooms because of misuse of prescription opioids. In 2014 alone, drug overdoses claimed 47,055 lives. This is more than deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents (35,398) and firearms (33,599). Experts from Columbia University pre- dict that the overdose deaths will continue to rise at least through 2017. Clearly, something terrible is happening in the homes, schools, and workplaces of America. The opioid overdose epi- demic has been fueled by an increase in the sales of prescrip- tion opioids for pain. They accounted for more than 183,000 deaths between 1999-2015. The prescription opioids most commonly abused are methadone, oxycodone (such as brand name OxyContin), and hydrocodone (such as brand name Vicodin). States with double-digit percentage increases in pre- scription opioid overdoses from 2014 to 2015 are: Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee. No state has escaped the scourge of opioid overdose deaths, though.