Deaths from heroin overdoses surged in 2014
They keep including drug over dose deaths from OTC.. in the total death count …but.. don’t mention that HALF of that number is from OTC’s
Despite increased public efforts to combat opioid abuse, the number of deaths from heroin overdoses surged by 28 percent in 2014, and fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers climbed by 16.3 percent, according to federal health officials.
The 10,574 heroin deaths and the 18,893 deaths from prescription opioids were two big contributors to a sharp increase in fatal drug overdoses last year — a total of 47,055, up 7 percent from 2013, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The heroin overdose figure was more than three times higher than the 2010 tally.
“The bottom line is the opioid overdose epidemic has not abated and appears to have soared in 2014,” said Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It’s clear that we need to do more.”
Frieden said the data, which was published this week, may change after CDC has a chance to review them and parse out cases of people who died with both heroin and prescription drugs in their systems. But even if some individuals were counted twice, he said, “It’s clear that the opiate epidemic from 2013 to 2014 got worse, not better.”
In the past few years, local, state and federal agencies have devoted additional resources to cracking down on illegal drug traffic, more widely distributing the drug naloxone, which reverses overdoses, and sending users to treatment instead of jail when possible.
And in recent months, the Obama administration announced new “public health-public safety partnerships” in areas plagued by drug overdoses, moved to increase access to treatment and took steps to better train doctors who prescribe prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, which have proven to be addictive. CDC is scheduled to propose new guidelines Monday for doctors who prescribe those drugs.
But the new numbers suggest that efforts to date have not stopped the tide of drugs washing through parts of the country. The Midwest, Great Lakes region and the Northeast have been particularly affected.
[One county, 69 minutes, eight overdoses]
Deaths from prescription drug overdoses had leveled off at about 16,000 annually until 2014, the data show. Heroin deaths, however, rapidly escalated starting in 2010. Authorities have said that government crackdowns on illegal pills pushed users to turn to heroin, which became cheaper and more widely available as drug cartels greatly increased their trafficking in the eastern United States.
Now, Frieden said, authorities are grappling with a rise in illegally manufactured fentanyl, which is 25 to 40 times more powerful than heroin. The drug is used legally to provide relief from severe pain caused by cancer and other diseases, but authorities say dealers are now lacing heroin with fentanyl to improve its potency, leading to more overdoses.
David J. Hickton, U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania and co-chair of the Justice Department’s National Heroin Task Force, said Friday that fentanyl and more potent heroin appear to have contributed to the 2014 spike in fatal overdoses.
The government must do more to tighten prescription of legal opioids, provide treatment and crack down on illegal drugs, especially heroin, Frieden said. “We have to have a much greater respect for how dangerous opiates are,” he said.
Filed under: General Problems
I am clueless as to how these “HEALTHY” people obtain quality prescription opiates. As we with co-occurring chronic illness are being given unauthentic, counterfeit, [up to 40 % less active ingredient], “substituted for”, and diverted brands of unknown quality and ingredients, which contradicts the ethics of “First Do No Harm”.
After filing a quality control report with TEVA regarding a 13 year stimulant, and being lied-to when I directly asked the manufacturer in N.J. “Have you altered, reformulated, substituted, remeasured, added, subtracted ANYTHING from this generic Dextroamphetamine Sulfate since taking over Barr pharma ? The answer was NO; that I am not the same person as I was last week and that my complaints are all in my head.
This was the beginning of my returns, official letters to N.Y. politicians, non-profits, FDA, and anyone who would listen. Each time the inexpensive BARR stimulant reappeared, all I received was severe side-effects which I still am suffering from. Since 2013, I have been forced to try other brand Dextroamphetamine Sulfates, as well as ADDERALLS; I have returned 8 to the pharmacies as they threatened me saying “We don’t accept returns” MY reply is that I bought it here and I am returning it here; you need to give this back to your distributer and they can ship it back on their Holocaustic-Pipeline. If I buy food which is rancid I bring it back to the store, not an extra trip to an “Anonymous” drop-box next to the police station.
I’m not sure if I told you this recent nightmare regarding an 15mg OXYCODONE by KVK. As much pain as I was in this “medication” was so extremely dangerous that after calling my pharmacist and complaining about the [wave-like surges of intense migraine pain, along with severe dehydration], my pharmacist wouldn’t do anything or could careless that I was in a state of emergency-directly as a result of this OXYCODONE. He happened to owe me 50. Using the last bit of energy I had, I called him back and stated “I have called you 2 days now complaining of severe reactions so dangerous I would end up in a hospital; you tell me it’s against the law to analyze this-so you can’t tell me what’s in it. Who do I have to write of call because this is lethal.
I was going to call the media before I had an anurisym.
He then said “Only because I owe you 50 will I switch this out to another “substituted-For” Oxycodone, but never ask me again”
Now I’m being penalized by a nurse practitioner working for a booming “Foothold” Mental-Health monopoly in retaliation for explaining this chronic and dangerous situation all the up to the N.Y.S. commissioner of mental health; I ccd 8 people up the chain of command. Instead of allowing my request to revisit a stimulant that I remember being somewhat tolerable, all she said to me was that my letter forced them to have a team meeting about my case; that I wasn’t jumping for Joy with all those I’ve tried, so now-[even though my axis one diagnoses is ADHD, and it’s noted by 4 psychiatrists the improvements made from the former once [50.00] generic, all she will offer me is an antidepressant. I refused to sign, got-up and walked-out.
My quality of life, ability to make a commitment to both volunteer and work part-time have been stolen from me. I can’t even read a book, have a focused conversation, am isolated, hopeless, enraged at needlessly suffering both physically and mentally. The many NON-PROFIT agencies here are told by the gov not to help us as to make us become more resilient.
I can’t continue as this is HELL. A psychiatrist told me to try and save my meds, that what is happening is too big and that no letter I can write, or anything else is hopeless. I told him, if that’s the case there is no point in living. Just to suffer inhumanely, have no rights, and any potential to get off this ” DISSED-ABILITY” I need 2 authentic medications and then I can work part-time; I’ve come to the conclusion that there are powerful entities who don’t want certain people to heal or become independent. They would rather torture and experiment inhumanly. There isn’t any-other explanation for this. I have documented and verifiable proof of both brain & pain validation as well as progress reports and witness accounts of how productive I am when I am adaquatly medicated; I am physically healthier as well. My “new-normal” blood pressure is now high, I am worse than ever and in the prime of my life. This is a Hi-Tech Military Holocaust, I want out