CDC Report Finds Deaths from Prescription Opioids Have More Than Tripled

Drug poisoning deaths involving opioid analgesics among those aged 15 and have more than tripled in the past decade, according to Health, United States, 2013, an annual, comprehensive report on the nation’s health by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC report found that deaths from prescription painkillers jumped from 1.9 deaths per 100,000 population in 1999-2000 to 6.6 deaths in 2009-2010.

The report also found that About half of all Americans reported taking one or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days during 2007-2010, and 1 in 10 took five or more. Cardiovascular agents (used to treat high blood pressure, heart disease or kidney disease) and cholesterol-lowering drugs were two of the most commonly used classes of prescription drugs among adults aged 18-64 years and 65 and over in 2007-2010.  Other commonly used prescription drugs among adults aged 18-64 years were analgesics to relieve pain and antidepressants.

The full report is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/.