Drug Deaths Now Outnumber Traffic Fatalities in US

The crisis of prescription drug overdoses in the U.S. has escalated in the past 10 years. Since 2007, more women have died from drug overdoses than from motor vehicle traffic injuries, and in 2010, four times as many died as a result of drug overdose as were victims of homicide.

While men generally have a higher likelihood of dying from drug overdoses, the rate of increase in overdose deaths from 1999 to 2010 was significantly higher for women, at 151%, compared to 85% for men.

This rise in drug overdose deaths, along with an increase in emergency department visits related to drug misuse and abuse among women, has occurred despite repeated calls over the last decade for more careful prescription of opioid pain relievers (OPRs) and concerted efforts to reduce abuse and prevent fatalities.

In a similar analysis going up to 2008, (as opposed to the above analysis spanning to 2010), the number of deaths due to drug overdoses (36,450) nearly matched those from motor vehicle accidents (39,973) by 2008. Traffic accidents have been the primary cause of injury-related deaths in the country

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Public health experts have used the comparison to draw attention to the nation’s growing prescription drug problem, which they characterize as an epidemic. This is the first time that drugs have accounted for more fatalities than traffic accidents since the government started tracking drug-induced deaths in 1979.

Fueling the surge in deaths are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive, and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol. Among the most commonly abused are OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax, and Soma. One relative newcomer to the scene is Fentanyl, a painkiller that comes in the form of patches and lollipops and is 100 times more powerful than morphine.

From the 1999-2010 analysis:

“Public health interventions to reduce prescription drug overdose must strike a balance between reducing misuse and abuse and safeguarding legitimate access to treatment. Health-care providers who treat women for pain should follow prescribing guidelines. Providers should screen all their patients for psychological disorders and for use of psychotherapeutic drugs, either with or without a prescription.”