Opioids overtake vehicles in 2018 U.S. preventable deaths

A newly published report from the National Safety Council states for the first time in U.S. history, vehicle crashes, the leading cause of preventable deaths, has been surpassed by opioid overdoses.

The 2017 data reports Americans have a 1 in 96 chance of dying from an opioid overdose, while the probability of dying in a motor vehicle crash is 1 in 103.

“The nation’s opioid crisis is fueling the Council’s grim probabilities, and that crisis is worsening with an influx of illicit fentanyl,” said a statement released by the council Monday, Jan. 14.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Fentanyl is the drug responsible for the majority of overdoses. Fentanyl is prescribed to treat severe pain and is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. However, when it comes to overdoses, it’s not the pharmaceutical fentanyl that is to blame but rather the illegally made fentanyl. Illegally made fentanyl is often mixed with heroin and/or cocaine as a combination product.

Increasing pain management is the recommendation of the council to tackle the epidemic as well as expanding access to addiction treatment and making naloxone, a medication that rapidly reverses opioid overdose, more widely and readily available.

Adam Lathrop, executive director of the Iowa-Illinois Safety Council, said Iowa hasn’t been hit as hard by the opioid epidemic as other states. He said from 1999-2016, opioid-related deaths in Iowa occurred one every two days, while nationally it’s one every 12 minutes.

“It’s still a big deal here, but Iowa has been fairly insulated compared to other areas,” Lathrop said, adding he didn’t have reasons why.

There are several reason why there is an opioid epidemic in the U.S, Lathorp said, one being the CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids is for no more than seven days. Roughly 70 percent of the time, prescribers prescribe the painkillers for up to 60 days.

“That is a big piece of how we got to where we are,” Lathrop said.

A second stimulant to the opioid crisis is people not disposing of unused prescription drugs, like opioids. Leaving them in a medicine cabinet is quick easy access for a family member or friends.

“If you have them, get rid of them,” Lathorp said.

In the lobby of the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center there is a drug disposal bin, courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Agency. Similar bins are also found at the Shenandoah Police Department, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and Clarinda Police Department.

When it comes to substance abuse in general, Lathorp said people who are addicted to alcohol are two times more likely to become addicted to heroin; marijuana users are three times more likely; cocaine abusers are 50 times more likely; and opioid users are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin.

“Opioid abuse is a really big pre-curser to a heroin problem,” Lathorp said. “The majority of opioid abuse problems begin with an injury.”

Lastly, he said studies have shown the combination of acetaminophen and ibuprofen is more effective for acute pain relief than opioids.

“There are whole lot of different ways to treat pain that is less dangerous than prescribing opioids,” Lathorp said.

The report stated the leading causes of death nationally are heart disease (1 in 6 chance) and cancer (1 in 7). It adds the lifetime odds of an American dying from a preventable, unintentional injury have gone up over the past 15 years. Each of the 169,936 preventable deaths recorded in 2017 were preventable.