CDC Reports on Rx Painkillers and Abuse

(Winter 2015) Drug overdoses are the number one cause of injury-related fatalities in the U.S., with a majority of these due to abuse of prescription painkillers, stimulants and sedatives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has invested over $20 million in 16 states to fight opioid overdoses, which have increased four-fold since 1999. In 2013 alone, prescription opioid overdoses were responsible for more than 16,000 deaths.

After reviewing information from prescription drug monitoring programs in eight states, the CDC reported valuable information:

• A small number of physicians are writing a large number of prescription pain medications. The analysis also shows that narcotic painkillers were prescribed at double the rate of stimulants or sedatives in all eight states.
• The need for painkillers may naturally increase with age as evidenced by data from Maine, one of the states in the CDC study. By 2030, a quarter of Maine residents will be over 65 years old. Currently, 85 painkiller prescriptions are written per 100 Mainers, and the state is one of the nation’s leaders per-capita for the use of the strongest and longest-acting painkillers.
• Also on a drastic rise among the older age group are emergency room (ER) visits for prescription drug overdoses. Nationwide, ER visits by individuals aged 45 to 85 increased by a factor of five between 1993 and 2012. Even more alarming is the rate of overdose fatalities among those aged 55 and 64; in 2013 the rate was seven times that of 1999.
• Oregon also has a high rate of painkiller usage, with 25% of Oregonians prescribed an opioid in 2012. This equals approximately 900,000 individuals. Oregon tops the list in the nonmedical use of opioids, and roughly 30% of the state’s drug-abuse-related hospitalizations are due to this class of drug.

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