In March, Ohio reported a record 1,544 unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2010, or a rate of 13.4 per 100,000 people. That was 5 percent higher than the previous record of 1,475 in 2008.
Fueling the epidemic in part is the widespread availability of prescription drugs. The quantity of prescription painkillers sold to pharmacies, hospitals and doctors’ offices was four times greater in 2010 than in 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “People ... should talk with their physicians about the drugs they’re taking,” said expert Russel Falck.
Falck is a Wright State University official who has extensively investigated Montgomery County’s drug epidemic.
Falck said people also should be aware that mixing prescription opioids and benzodiazepines is “a very risky proposition.” Such a mix was present in about half those who accidentally overdosed and died in Montgomery County last year.
Benzodiazepines are psychotropic drugs such as antianxiety medications, muscle relaxants, sedatives and hypnotics. Prescription opioids are sedative narcotics containing opium or one of its derivatives.
Of Montgomery County’s 130 deaths, 116 were county residents, six were residents of other Ohio counties, six resided out of state, and two had no known address, according to the data released by Public Health — Dayton & Montgomery County. The 130 deaths reported by the coroner’s office are up from 127 in 2010 and 124 in 2009, but down from 144 in 2008.
Work done for the county under contract by Wright State University’s Center for Interventions, Treatment & Addictions Research, with help from the Montgomery County coroner’s office, has given Public Health a better idea of who is at greater risk for overdose deaths, said James Gross, Montgomery County health commissioner.
Overdose victims, for example, are more likely to be male (59 percent); white (87 percent); and have a high school education or less (97 percent).
Having that information will help Public Health better target its prevention efforts, Gross said. He expects those efforts to begin this year.
“These deaths are preventable,” Gross said.
“Through education, I hope we can reduce the number of these unintentional drug deaths. I’m very confident we can save lives by reaching out to people.”
Prescription opioids were found in 62 percent of the death cases, down sharply from 2010. Falck believes that reflects in part a greater awareness among prescribers about the community’s overdose epidemic, Falck said.
Cocaine was present in 41 percent of those who died, a sharp increase from 30 percent in 2010.
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