Ohio Releases Drug Injury/Poisoning Report

The Injury Prevention Program has released a new injury report, the Burden of Poisoning in Ohio, 1999-2008, showing alarming statistics about death and injury from prescription drug abuse. 

The document presents a detailed analysis of death and hospitalization data, including hospital charges and length of stay due to poisoning, which includes drug poisoning/overdose in Ohio.  Statistics show:

• From 1999 to 2008, Ohio’s death rate due to unintentional drug poisonings increased by 350 percent, and much of this increase can be attributed to prescription drug overdoses.
• Of unintentional drug/medication poisonings, opioids used as pain relievers (such as methadone, oxycodone) have contributed significantly to the rise in unintentional poisonings and were involved in at least 37 percent of all drug poisonings in Ohio in 2008.
• On average, four people die each day in Ohio due to drug-related poisoning.
• Southern Ohio counties have been more significantly impacted than any other region of Ohio, with seven of its counties among the 10 with the highest rates of unintentional drug/medication- related poisoning deaths: (Montgomery, Brown, Scioto, Jackson, Clinton, Vinton, Ross).

The report also includes an analysis of vital statistics data linked with the Board of Pharmacy’s prescription monitoring program data describing the prescription histories of fatal unintentional drug overdose victims.   To see a copy of the report, click here:  http://www.odh.ohio.gov/odhPrograms/hprr/injprev/OVIPP.aspx