CDC: Deaths From Overdosing On Painkillers Tripled Since 1999

By Sophie Quinton | National Journal
November 1, 2011

More Americans now die from overdosing on pain killers than from overdosing on heroin and cocaine combined, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Tuesday.

“Narcotics prescribed by physicians kill 40 people a day,” CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden told reporters in a conference call.

Deaths linked to opioid pain relievers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Opana have become an epidemic, Frieden said, adding that the rate of deaths has more than tripled in the past decade.

“Epidemic-- that’s not a word that I or the national public health community uses lightly,” said R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Kerlikowske later noted that in 17 states, more people die from overdosing on painkillers than in motor vehicle accidents.

The rising rates of misuse put a burden on both hospitals and insurers. Roughly half a million emergency room visits were linked to opiod abuse in 2009, according to CDC data; health care costs associated with opiod pain killer abuse cost insurers $72.5 billion each year. FULL STORY