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Prescription Opioid Overdose Kills More than Heroin and Cocaine Overdoses Combined
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November 29, 2011The rate of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. has tripled since 1991, with most of these drug-related deaths caused by prescription drugs, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Continue Reading
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Oklahoma Sooner linebacker, Austin Box was found dead, May 19 at his friend’s home in El Reno. Box, 22 was also found with five different painkillers in his system, which lead to what was believed to be, an overdose, and the cause of death. Continue Reading
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The growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse throughout the United States is driven in part by practitioners who are not taking the necessary steps to keep prescription medications out of the hands of those who are simply abusing them. In fact, according to this Science Daily release, some physicians are prescribing opioids to patients 55 times as often as others. Continue Reading
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Many things that are perfectly ok for a normal person may be extremely harmful or unhealthy for someone who is expecting. This is especially true in the early stages of pregnancy as major body systems and organs begin to develop and form. Even good-for-you substances like green tea are considered potentially unsafe. It is not surprising, then, to learn that taking strong opiod pain medications such as oycodone and codeine while pregnant can cause birth defects. Continue Reading
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The fact that prescription drugs are an abuse problem is not necessarily news, but with the problem getting bigger in the United States, there are some who are asking where is the oversight to try and eliminate this problem.
This was the focus in a recent Chron report as the U.S. consumes 70 percent of the world’s opiate production. At the same time, Americans are dying of overdoses from these drugs at a rate that is considered to be epidemic.
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As of 2008, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared that drug overdose had become the second leading cause of unintentional death, just behind motor vehicle fatalities. However, more recent evidence is showing an exponential surge in drug overdose deaths, caused specifically by prescription drugs. Prescription medications are still considered by some to be non-toxic or harmless, as opposed to illicit drugs, which are universally identified as being deadly. Prescription medication, however, can be just as toxic, and is accessible to anyone of any age who can purchase them legally with a prescription, find them in a parent’s medicine cabinet, or gain them by means of prescription forgery or diversion—also known as “doctor shopping.”
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Kansas City teenagers are increasingly getting hooked on prescription painkillers and eventually turning to heroin. About 18 months ago, police officers in Johnson County started finding that more and more victims of heroin overdose were high-school students.
