Reports Suggest Decrease in Fatal Prescription Drug Overdoses in Past Year

For more than a decade, reports showed a striking rise in prescription drug overdoses, especially fatal overdoses involving prescription painkillers. However, a government study now suggests that the rate of fatal prescription drug overdoses is finally declining.

Prior to 2006, according to the investigation, prescription drug overdose deaths rose 18% every year. Since 2006, however, that rate has risen only 3%, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

However, specific prescription drugs such as opioid painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin still saw steep rises in overdose deaths until 2011, likely reflecting the epidemic of prescription painkiller and opioid addiction in the US. 2011 was the final year included in the analysis.

The Centers for Disease Control states that the rate of prescription drug overdose deaths more than tripled in the past 20 years. However, specific increase statistics had not been known until Tuesday, September 16th’s report.

The study reported that the decrease in overdose deaths from prescription drugs primarily involved a slow-down in prescriptions for methadone, a drug used to treat chronic pain and also prevent street drug users from returning to heroin and other illegal narcotics.

Anti-anxiety sedatives, called benzodiazepines, accounted for 31% of the prescription drug deaths in 2011, up from 13% in 1999. That class of drugs includes Valium and Xanax.

The overdose death rate from prescription drugs is still staggering. Between 1999 and 2011, deaths from prescription painkiller overdoses rose to 5.4 in every 100,000 people – in 2011 alone, 16,917 people died from a prescription drug overdose.

The greatest increase in prescription drug overdose deaths involved 55 to 64 year old non-Latino whites, the group primarily prescribed painkillers for chronic pain.

The new report also showed that states which had legalized medical marijuana saw a 25% decrease in prescription drug overdose deaths, according to data from an August study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Currently, medical marijuana is legal in 23 states, with South Carolina recently legalizing CBD oil for very specific chronic conditions.

According to a report published last year, from the Trust for America’s Health, titled Prescription Drug Abuse: Strategies to Stop the Epidemic, South Carolina ranks 16th nationally for drug overdose deaths.

The report shows that the number of drug overdose deaths in the state has tripled since 1999, and the majority of those deaths come from prescription drug overdoses. Nationally, the rates have doubled in 29 states since 1999; 10 or more states, including South Carolina, have seen drug overdose deaths triple; and four states saw drug overdose death rates quadruple.

The Strom Law Firm Can Help with Prescription Drug Abuse Charges

If you have received criminal drug abuse charges, or are suspected of abusing prescription drugs, you are not automatically guilty, and you do not give up any of your rights. The attorneys at the Strom Law Firm can help defend you. We offer free, confidential consultations to discuss the facts of your case. Do not let criminal drug charges such as trafficking or possession ruin your reputation and career prospects. Contact us today. 803.252.4800.