NCHS Data Briefs Update ► NCHS Data Brief, No. 166 - Drug-poisoning Deaths Involving Opioid Analgesics: United States, 1999–2011

NCHS Data Briefs Update

NCHS Data Briefs

NCHS Data Brief, No. 166 - Drug-poisoning Deaths Involving Opioid Analgesics: United States, 1999–2011

Poisoning is the leading cause of injury death in the United States. Drugs—both illicit and pharmaceutical—are the major cause of poisoning deaths, accounting for 90% of poisoning deaths in 2011. Misuse or abuse of prescription drugs, including opioid-analgesic pain relievers, is responsible for much of the recent increase in drug-poisoning deaths. This report highlights trends in drug-poisoning deaths involving opioid analgesics (referred to as opioid-analgesic poisoning deaths) and updates previous Data Briefs on this topic. 

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