February 21, 2013

For more than a decade, prescription drug abuse and addiction has been a growing problem in the United States. In 2010, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 22,134 lives were lost to drug overdoses involving prescription medications. These deaths accounted for 60 percent of all overdose deaths in the U.S. that year.

WRAL News explained that a majority of the reports involved the use of narcotic painkillers, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin. These drugs accounted for three out of four overdose deaths, while anti-anxiety medications were involved in roughly 30 percent of the cases examined.

Many believe the epidemic that is now sweeping the nation is being caused by doctors who are not watching what medications they give to patients closely enough. In fact, hundreds of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against doctors who allowed a Drug Injury to occur through negligently prescribing dangerous medications.

Experts believe the only way to curtail the problem is to create better drug monitoring systems that will link data and files between medical facilities and pharmacies. Other measures that were suggested include a thorough crackdown on “pill mills” where doctors indiscriminately prescribe large quantities of high-potency medications to patients.

The North Carolina Personal Injury Attorneys with HensonFuerst are here to help if you or a loved one have been harmed by a medication that was negligently prescribed by a doctor.