Transcript Decoding an epidemic

The problem
• Drugs--fueled largely by a surge in
prescription overdoses--kill more people each
year than traffic accidents.
• Prescription drug overdose is one of the few
types of preventable death in the U.S. that are
rising.
• Drugs most commonly involved are opioid
painkillers
• CDC calls it an epidemic
Conventional wisdom
• The problem is misuse and abuse from a
number of sources:
• "Diversion," pharmacy robberies, internet
• Teenagers/addicts stealing from Grandma's
medicine cabinet
• Teenagers/addicts stealing from medicine
cabinets at open houses
• Teenagers/addicts following old people home
from pharmacy and stealing from their
medicine cabinets
Death study
• 2008 study in JAMA looked at about 300
overdose deaths in West Virginia.
• Reported that 63% involved a "diverted" drug,
i.e. the decedent lacked a prescription for at
least one of the implicated meds.
• Did not report % that involved prescribed
drugs.
Our study
• 3,733 accidental deaths involving prescription
medications from 2006 through 2011 in Los
Angeles, San Diego, Orange and Ventura
counties.
Our findings
• In 1,762 cases--47%--one or more drugs
prescribed for the deceased caused or
contributed to the death
The drugs
• Hydrocodone (Vicodin,
Norco): 362
• Oxycodone (OxyContin,
Percocet): 237
• Alprazolam (Xanax): 211
• Methadone: 201
• Morphine: 191
• Diazepam (Valium): 174
The dead
• 71 doctors had total of 298 patients fatally
overdose
• Age range: 21 to 70; average: 48
• They included cops, nurses, teachers, wives,
husbands, mothers and fathers. They lived on
upscale cul-de-sacs, in rural trailer homes and
urban SROs.
• Some took an extra dose because they were
in pain. Many became dependent or addicted
after treatment for real injuries.
The prescribers
• 71 doctors had three or more
patients die of prescriptioninvolved overdoses.
• All but a handful had clean
records.
• The doctor at the top of the
list had16 patients die of
overdoses.
"Dying for Relief"
www.latimes.com/prescriptiondrugs