Drastic Rise in Deaths From Painkillers in U.S. and Canada

A new research highlights the dramatic increase in mortality rates due to prescribed painkillers.

Researchers at McGill University found that, number of deaths due to the commonly prescribed painkillers is greater than the ones that occur because of overdose of  heroin and cocaine combined.  In 2010 there were over 16000 deaths in the U.S. alone due to prescribed painkillers. Currently, U.S. leads in per captia opioid consumption followed by Canada.

"Prescription painkiller overdoses have received a lot of attention in editorials and the popular press, but we wanted to find out what solid evidence is out there," says Nicholas King, of the Biomedical Ethics Unit in the Faculty of Medicine.

To evaluate this evidence, the researchers conducted a systematic review of the existing literature and surveyed the scientific literature. The researchers wanted to find out why several people in the U.S. and Canada were dying from prescription painkillers. A significant rise in such deaths was seen in the past two decades.

Nicholas King, of the Biomedical Ethics Unit in the Faculty of Medicine said, "We found evidence for at least 17 different determinants of increasing opioid-related mortality, mainly, dramatically increased prescription and sales of opioids; increased use of strong, long-acting opioids like Oxycontin and methadone; combined use of opioids and other (licit and illicit) drugs and alcohol; and social and demographic factors."

The researchers found very little evidence of the factors cited in media that include internet sales of pharmaceuticals and mistake by the doctors  to have played any role in the increased number of deaths.

This finding highlights a complicated epidemic suggesting physicians, users, health care system as well social environment should play a key role in curbing it.

The finding was documented in the American Journal of Public Health.