Prescription Overdose Deaths Decline in Washington State

Drug overdose deaths from prescription painkillers are on the decline across Washington, as noted in a story on the KPLU website by Keith Seinfeld.  Deaths from drugs such as Vicodin and Oxycontin rose dramatically starting in 1998, reaching a peak in 2008, and killing more than 500 people that year.  Now, the deaths have dropped for three years in a row, with 407 deaths in 2011 attributed to overdoses of painkillers, called opiates, according to data released by the Washington Department of Health.

It appears the deaths might correlate with a drop in the number of pills prescribed, according to Caleb Banta-Green, a Research Scientist at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington. Read more...