New data show the staggering reach of the prescription drug epidemic.
Doctors wrote 259 million opioid prescriptions for Americans in 2012, enough to medicate every adult in the country. Drug overdoses are eclipsing car crashes as a leading cause of accidental death for American adults.
A poll out today from the Kaiser Family Foundation adds a troubling new number to the accounting: 27 percent of Americans report that they either have been addicted to prescription painkillers or have a family member or close friend who has.
That's roughly 66 million U.S. adults for whom the opioid crisis has become intensely personal.
The Kaiser Foundation interviewed 1,352 respondents from a national sample by phone. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
More than half reported some connection to the epidemic—knowing anyone who ever misused painkillers, was addicted, or died from an overdose. If you don't have some kind of personal connection to painkiller abuse, you're in the minority.
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2 comments:
If they keep letting Obama do these damn press interviews on TV this number will continue to CLIMB!!!!
another reason why the Public Sector should submit to drug testing .. we have addicted people in jobs where they do not need an excuse for their volatile behavior...like child care
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