Drug overdose deaths in U.S. hit record high

More than that, people addicted to opioids should have access to treatment, including access to naloxone, a drug that can reverse the symptoms in case of an opioid overdose. Since the turn of the century, the rate of deaths from overdoses has skyrocketed 137 percent, while the rate for deaths involving opioids has jumped 200 percent.

Overdose deaths in 2014 surged in 14 states and surpassed 47,000 across the country, up 7 percent from the previous year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday.

The states of West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and OH had the highest percentage in overdose death.

Given that the count represents a spike across all demographics-for adults in every age range, for both women and men, and for blacks and non-Hispanic whites alike-the report should certainly be viewed as worrisome.

Drug overdoses have killed nearly half a million people in the United States from 2000 to 2014, and the rate of opioid overdoses has tripled since 2000. Despite of efforts to fight the opioid epidemic, overdoses of prescription drugs and heroin continue to be the leading cause of unintentional deaths in America, with MI to be among 14 states to saw significant increase in death rate from 2013 to 2014. CDC believes that the health professionals must be equipped with more resources and tools, as well as be more capable to give better prescription guidelines, to help patients make more informed decisions.

Heroin deaths also went up by 26% since 2013 with more than 10,000 people dead by 2014. They are urging family doctors to be careful about who they give painkiller prescriptions to for chronic pain. Since 2000, overdoses from opioids have quadrupled, the report noted.

In sheer numbers, California – the most populous state – had the most overdose deaths past year, with more than 4,500. Before, the growing trend for overdose death was related to misuse and overuse of opioid. According to the CDC, the increase in synthetic opioid deaths coincided with increased reports by law enforcement of illicitly manufactured fentanyl.

According to the CDC, heroin-related deaths are on the rise.

“These findings indicate that the opioid overdose epidemic is worsening”, said the lead researcher Rose Budd in the report.

Heroin and prescription painkillers were responsible for 61 percent of the deaths, the New York Times noted.