January 5, 2012
Right now in the United States, more people die from drug overdoses than from car accidents, according to new research released last month. According to WECT 6 News, the study concluded that the cause of the surge in fatal overdoses could be linked to the increased use of drugs that have potential for abuse.
The study was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over a 30-year time period. Over the span of three decades, researchers saw an increase of six times as many drug poisoning deaths. In 1980, there were roughly 6,000 deaths associated with drug poisonings. By 2008, that number had capped out at 36,500. That same year, nine out of ten poisoning deaths were drug related, with 77 percent of them being unintentional.
These findings correlate with earlier research that showed the number one type of drug abused in the United States today are legal pharmaceuticals.
A CDC health scientist involved with the study, Dr. Chris Jones, stated that the number of prescriptions that doctors are willing to write to patients today is a major contributing factor to the problem. “Between 1999 and 2010, the sales of these drugs increased fourfold.” he added.
The Raleigh drug injury lawyers with HensonFuerst are an experienced team of attorneys dedicated to helping victims who have been injured at no fault of their own by a prescription drug. If you or someone you know has experienced a similar scenario, call us today to discuss your case.
