Drug overdose is the leading cause of death from unintentional injuries in the United States killing more people than gun homicides and car crashes combined.
908 opioid- or heroin-related deaths in Missouri; an 35% increase over 2015. One out of every 66 deaths in the state was due to opioid or opiate abuse in 2016—a significant increase from 2015 when one out of every 89 deaths were opioid-related. |
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that, “some of the greatest increases occurred in demographic groups with historically low rates of heroin use: women, the privately insured, and people with higher incomes.” Heroin is becoming less of a “street drug.” It has made its way from the rural areas to the suburbs, and heroin can kill people from any race or stature.
75 percent of new heroin users report that their addiction began by abusing prescription opioids that can typically be tracked by a PDMP. |
Between 2005 and 2014, the national rate of opioid-related inpatient stays increased 64.1 percent and the national rate of opioid-related emergency department (ED) visits increased 99.4 percent. Sales of prescription opioids in the U.S. nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2014,1 but there has not been an overall change in the amount of pain Americans report.2,3 During this time period, prescription opioid overdose deaths increased similarly.
Health-care costs related to prescription opioid abuse - $25 billion |
Criminal-justice-system costs - $5.1 billion
Workplace cost in lost earning and employment - $25.6 billion Increase in opioid prescriptions from 1999 to 2015 could account for about 20 percent of the observed decline in men’s labor force participation, and 25 percent of the observed decline in women’s labor force participation. The Burden of Undiagnosed Opioid Abuse Among Commercially Insured Individuals |