Deaths from painkiller poisoning quadrupled in 10 years

Poisoning is the leading cause of accidental injury death in the United States; both legal and illegal drugs account for 90% of poisoning deaths.

Death rates from painkiller poisoning have quadrupled in the past 10 years.

According to the US National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the number of deaths from poisoning by prescription opioid painkillers in the country, including hydrocodone, morphine, and oxycodone, increased from 2,749 in 1999 to 11,693 in 2011.

“Although the rate is still increasing, it is not as fast as it was from 2000 to 2006,” said Dr. Holly Hedegaard, an epidemiologist at NCHS.

“From 1999 to 2006, the death rate increased by about 18% per year, but from 2006 to now it has only increased by about 3% per year.”

Researchers defined drug poisoning deaths as deaths caused by accidental or intentional drug overdose, being given the wrong drug, making a medication error, or accidentally taking a drug without knowing it. Of the drug poisoning deaths in 2011, 80% were unintentional, 13% were intentional, 7% were undetermined, and less than 10% were suicides.

While natural and semisynthetic opioid analgesics, such as hydrocodone, morphine, and oxycodone, were involved in 70% of drug poisoning deaths, deaths from synthetic opioid analgesics, such as fentanyl, meperidine, and propoxyphene, also increased sharply from 730 in 1999 to 2,666 in 2011. The proportion of deaths from benzodiazepines (drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety and muscle relaxation) also increased from 13% of all opioid analgesic poisoning deaths to 31% in 2011.

Over the past 10 years, the number of drug poisoning deaths increased most significantly in the 55–64 age group. Deaths from opioid painkillers in this age group increased from 1 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 6.3 per 100,000 people in 2011. However, the 25–34, 35–44, and 45–54 age groups still accounted for the highest proportion of deaths from opioid painkiller poisoning.

According to Dan Tri