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In 16 states, drug deaths overtake traffic fatals

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer

In 16 states and counting, drugs now kill more people than auto accidents do, the government said Wednesday. Experts said the startling shift reflects two opposite trends: Driving is becoming safer, and the legal and illegal use of powerful prescription painkillers is on the rise. For decades, traffic accidents have... Click here to view this content. Sign Up for Clip&Copy® to find other content like this. It's a free personalized news alert and press clippings service.

© 2009 Associated Press Powered by iCopyright.com.

    9/30/09 The Associated Press CDC: Drug deaths outpace crashes in more states By MIKE STOBBE (AP) ATLANTA — Drug-related deaths outnumber those from motor vehicle accidents in a growing number of states, according to new government data that highlight a shift in the top cause of deaths after disease and illness. Crashes still cost more lives nationwide, but state-by-state calculations show the rate of drug-induced deaths outpaced vehicle accidents in 16 states in 2006, up from about a dozen states the year before and eight in 2003.

Drug overdoses make up the vast majority of the drug-related deaths, and there was a sharp increase in fatalities tied to cocaine and to drugs known as opioid analgesics — including methadone, fentanyl, sedatives and prescription painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin. From 1999 to 2006, death rates for opioid analgesics increased for every age group. Deaths from methadone alone increased sevenfold, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released Wednesday.

Based on death certificate data, CDC researchers counted more than 45,000 U.S. deaths from motor-vehicle crashes in 2006, and about 39,000 from drug-induced causes. The CDC does not have finalized data for 2007 or subsequent years. About 90 percent of those drug fatalities are sudden deaths from overdoses, but the count includes people who died from organ damage from long-term drug use or abuse.

The 2006 death counts and death rates were higher for drugs than for vehicle accidents in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

It's not clear why certain states have seen such a shift. There are probably a variety of reasons, and the explanation may vary a bit from state to state, said Bob Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Part of the story is that traffic death rates are going down. The death rate for people killed in motor vehicle crashes decreased by about 6.5 percent from 1999 through 2006 — from 15.3 per 100,000 to 14.3 per 100,000, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

Declines in motor vehicle fatalities "are considered one of the great public health triumphs" of the last few decades, said Margaret Warner, an epidemiologist who co-authored the new CDC report.

"But (drug) poisonings are definitely going up," she added.

U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT

New Study Blames Prescription Drugs for Bulk of Fatal Overdoses
By Jessica Calefati

Posted December 10, 2008

Research published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association confirms the growing threat posed by abuse of prescription opiates and calls on clinicians to help prevent future cases of addiction and overdose.

The study, authored by Aron Hall, finds that a majority of drug overdose deaths in West Virginia in 2006 are linked to nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals, primarily prescription opiates like OxyContin, methadone, and Vicodin. Prescription opiates played a part in 93 percent of the 295 deaths examined. The study also found that men ages 18 to 24 were the most likely to obtain pills from friends or relatives.

Along with the high rate of overdoses, abuse of prescription opiates has become a serious concern because it often leads to heroin abuse among teens and 20-somethings, in large part because heroin is so much cheaper.

Hall chose West Virginia for the study because it has one of the highest rates of unintentional drug overdose deaths in the country—and the nation's fastest rising overdose rate. Between 1999 and 2004, the number of overdoses in West Virginia jumped by a dramatic 550 percent, and state records indicate that this trend has continued since 2004, according to the study.

Though the study did not track where those who overdosed obtained their drugs, it does conclude that a majority of individuals using prescription pain relievers to get high procure their drugs for free from friends or relatives. According to the study, pain medication is being prescribed at staggering rates nationwide. Legal purchases of methadone have increased 13-fold in the past decade, while OxyContin prescriptions are up nine-fold.

Because the root of this problem lies in the growing number of pain medication prescriptions written by doctors and filled by pharmacists each day, Hall encourages these professionals to counsel patients who are prescribed opiates about the risk of overdose—both to themselves and to those with whom they share or sell their pills. He also recommends that clinicians not hesitate to refer patients to pain management specialists who can help them identify levels of pain medication that provide relief without being addictive.

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