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Opioid-related deaths in emergency departments increased by approximately 30% across all regions of the United States between 2016 and 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Analysis of 91 million ED visits from the CDC’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program and Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance database found significant increases in opioid overdose deaths in 16 states, reaching as high as 109% in Wisconsin and 106% in Delaware, CDC officials said during a press briefing.
“We are currently seeing the highest drug overdose death rate ever recorded in the United States, driven by prescription opioids and by illicit opioids such as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl,” said Anne Schuchat, MD, acting CDC director. “In 2016, there were more than 63,000 drug overdose deaths, and more than 42,000 of those deaths involved an opioid.”
Of the 91 million visits, a total of 261,755 were suspected of opioid overdoses across both databases.
The greatest increase was seen in the Midwest region (69.7%), followed by the West (40.3%), Northeast (21.3%), Southwest (20.2%), and Southeast (14%).
Death rates rose across all demographics, regardless of sex or age.
While Delaware recorded some of the highest increases in deaths, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island decreased, although not within statistical significance.
“These decreases may possibly be related to implementation of interventions, including expansion of access to medication-assisted treatment,” said Dr. Schuchat. “The decrease in Kentucky during this period of time may reflect some fluctuations in drug supply.”
In a comparison of urban and rural areas, large and medium metropolitan communities had the sharpest increase, at 45%.
To combat the rise in deaths, the CDC is encouraging an increase in naloxone distribution and training for first responders and community members.
The agency also recommends that local health departments begin using ED data to alert local communities when opioid-related deaths rise.
“This is a very difficult and fast-moving epidemic, and there are no easy solutions,” Dr. Schuchat said. [These data send] “a wake-up call about the need to improve what happens when patients leave the emergency department; all of us working together, government, public health, the medical community, law enforcement, and community members themselves can help fight this epidemic and save lives.”
ezimmerman@frontlinemedcom.com
SOURCE: Vivolo-Kantor AM et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 6 Mar 2018. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6709e1.
Opioid-related deaths in emergency departments increased by approximately 30% across all regions of the United States between 2016 and 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Analysis of 91 million ED visits from the CDC’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program and Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance database found significant increases in opioid overdose deaths in 16 states, reaching as high as 109% in Wisconsin and 106% in Delaware, CDC officials said during a press briefing.
“We are currently seeing the highest drug overdose death rate ever recorded in the United States, driven by prescription opioids and by illicit opioids such as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl,” said Anne Schuchat, MD, acting CDC director. “In 2016, there were more than 63,000 drug overdose deaths, and more than 42,000 of those deaths involved an opioid.”
Of the 91 million visits, a total of 261,755 were suspected of opioid overdoses across both databases.
The greatest increase was seen in the Midwest region (69.7%), followed by the West (40.3%), Northeast (21.3%), Southwest (20.2%), and Southeast (14%).
Death rates rose across all demographics, regardless of sex or age.
While Delaware recorded some of the highest increases in deaths, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island decreased, although not within statistical significance.
“These decreases may possibly be related to implementation of interventions, including expansion of access to medication-assisted treatment,” said Dr. Schuchat. “The decrease in Kentucky during this period of time may reflect some fluctuations in drug supply.”
In a comparison of urban and rural areas, large and medium metropolitan communities had the sharpest increase, at 45%.
To combat the rise in deaths, the CDC is encouraging an increase in naloxone distribution and training for first responders and community members.
The agency also recommends that local health departments begin using ED data to alert local communities when opioid-related deaths rise.
“This is a very difficult and fast-moving epidemic, and there are no easy solutions,” Dr. Schuchat said. [These data send] “a wake-up call about the need to improve what happens when patients leave the emergency department; all of us working together, government, public health, the medical community, law enforcement, and community members themselves can help fight this epidemic and save lives.”
ezimmerman@frontlinemedcom.com
SOURCE: Vivolo-Kantor AM et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 6 Mar 2018. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6709e1.
Opioid-related deaths in emergency departments increased by approximately 30% across all regions of the United States between 2016 and 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Analysis of 91 million ED visits from the CDC’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program and Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance database found significant increases in opioid overdose deaths in 16 states, reaching as high as 109% in Wisconsin and 106% in Delaware, CDC officials said during a press briefing.
“We are currently seeing the highest drug overdose death rate ever recorded in the United States, driven by prescription opioids and by illicit opioids such as heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl,” said Anne Schuchat, MD, acting CDC director. “In 2016, there were more than 63,000 drug overdose deaths, and more than 42,000 of those deaths involved an opioid.”
Of the 91 million visits, a total of 261,755 were suspected of opioid overdoses across both databases.
The greatest increase was seen in the Midwest region (69.7%), followed by the West (40.3%), Northeast (21.3%), Southwest (20.2%), and Southeast (14%).
Death rates rose across all demographics, regardless of sex or age.
While Delaware recorded some of the highest increases in deaths, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island decreased, although not within statistical significance.
“These decreases may possibly be related to implementation of interventions, including expansion of access to medication-assisted treatment,” said Dr. Schuchat. “The decrease in Kentucky during this period of time may reflect some fluctuations in drug supply.”
In a comparison of urban and rural areas, large and medium metropolitan communities had the sharpest increase, at 45%.
To combat the rise in deaths, the CDC is encouraging an increase in naloxone distribution and training for first responders and community members.
The agency also recommends that local health departments begin using ED data to alert local communities when opioid-related deaths rise.
“This is a very difficult and fast-moving epidemic, and there are no easy solutions,” Dr. Schuchat said. [These data send] “a wake-up call about the need to improve what happens when patients leave the emergency department; all of us working together, government, public health, the medical community, law enforcement, and community members themselves can help fight this epidemic and save lives.”
ezimmerman@frontlinemedcom.com
SOURCE: Vivolo-Kantor AM et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 6 Mar 2018. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6709e1.
FROM MMWR
