Drug Overdose Deaths Hit A New High in 2014

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the overall tally last week.

For the nation, overdose deaths last year surpassed 47,000 — up 7 percent from the previous year.

The rate of drug overdose deaths increased significantly for both sexes, persons aged 25-44 years and ≥55 years, non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks, and in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern regions of the United States.

“To curb these trends and save lives, we must help prevent addiction and provide support and treatment to those who suffer from opioid use disorders”, Frieden said.

Both drugs work in similar ways, and when addicts are unable to get prescription medications to feed their habit, many turn to heroin, which is often cheap and accessible.

Dr. R. Corey Waller, with Spectrum Health who is also a member of the state task force, said one in 100 people is expected to die in this state of an opioid overdose, which is catastrophic.

In addition, heroin-related death rates increased 26 percent from 2013-2014, totaling 10,574 deaths in 2014.

The CDC says since 2000, the country has seen a 200 percent increase in overdose deaths caused by opioids.

The sharp increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids, other than methadone, in 2014 coincided with law enforcement reports of increased availability of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a synthetic opioid; however, illicitly manufactured fentanyl can not be distinguished from prescription fentanyl in death certificate data.

Oxycodone, which includes the brand-name drug OxyContin, and hydrocodone, which includes the brand-name drug Vicodin, continue to be among the most commonly prescribed narcotic painkillers, and are responsible for more overdose deaths than any other narcotic, the researchers found.

Based on its Morbidity and Mortality Report for 2014, opioid overdose, including due to heroin and pain relievers, increased by 14% within 12 months.

“These findings indicate that the opioid overdose epidemic is worsening”.

Opioid painkillers accounted for a nine percent increase of deaths in 2014 to 813 people. More people are also dying from fentanyl, an opioid that is sold as a heroin.

Heroin overdoses in particular have climbed dramatically-more than tripling in the past four years. It’s also the most drug overdoses reported in the United States since 1970.

Of those states, the biggest jumps were in North Dakota with 125 percent increase in fatal overdoses, New Hampshire with 73 percent, and ME with 27 percent. It recommends stricter guidelines for prescribing pain killers, expanded availability and wider access to naloxone, an antidote for opioid-related overdoses.