Prescription drug overdoses in the nation’s emergency rooms increased 111 percent over the course of three years, according to a new study.
Among painkillers, the drugs driving the overdoses from 2004 to 2007 were oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone, according to the study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
In 2008 alone, visits to emergency rooms for prescription drug overdoses jumped 28 percent.
The report does not break down data state by state, but a snapshot shows a 64 percent increase in non-suicidal deaths from drugs that treat anxiety— like Xanax and Valium — in Maryland and five other states from 2004 to 2007.
The study said the prescription drugs causing the most deaths also were the drugs doctors prescribed in the highest volume for each year, with a few exceptions.
From 2007 to 2008, ER visits due to prescription drug overdoses equaled visits due to cocaine and heroin overdoses across the U.S. Each totaled 1 million visits.
The study concluded “these increases in nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals suggest that previous prevention measures, such as provider and patient education restrictions … have not been adequate.”
