Topic: mortality

As tired or sleep-deprived or in pain as he might have been that night, if he hadn’t taken the drugs, would he still be alive?

Current drug laws are structured in such a way as to leave law enforcement permanently behind and struggling to catch up.

Unfortunately, relatively few ODs occurred in the doctor’s office or the pharmacy waiting area.

Prescription ODs now account for more fatalities than automobile accidents.

Some good news: despite continuing struggles, Kentucky and West Virginia did not experience a significant increase in fatalities versus 2013.

It’s simply evidence of the shift by chronic users to a cheaper, more readily available alternative.

It takes thirty seconds to write a prescription… that fits very well into a scheduled 15 minute office visit.

No question that combining or ‘stacking’ these substances, illegal and/or prescription, increases the risk for unintended OD.

Diversion to abuse has been significant. Currently methadone represents only some two percent of all opioid prescriptions, but it’s been implicated in an astounding one-third of all opioid fatalities.

Either way, it’s the drugs and alcohol that wind up killing the addict — not abstinence.