Overdoses involving prescription painkillers now kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined.

Car accidents are no longer the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. According to a recent report published by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, this dubious distinction now belongs to drug poisoning. What's at the root of this trend? A river of prescription painkillers.

Indeed, the report suggests that the United States is in the midst of a painkiller epidemic. Every year, more people now die from analgesic pain relievers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, than cocaine and heroin combined. Abuse is so bad these days that doctors are having difficulty keeping up with the demand.

The change atop the accidental death leaderboard officially happened back in 2008 when over 41,000 Americans died as a result of poisoning, compared to 38,000 vehicle traffic deaths. Of those, 90% were caused by drugs. It marked the first time since 1980 that car accidents were not at the top of the list.

There's little doubt that deaths by vehicle accidents are on the decline, but it does not compare to the sharp rise of poisonings. During the past three decades, the poisoning rate has tripled from where it was in 1980, while motor vehicle deaths decreased by almost one-half over the same time. And from 1999 to 2008, the poisoning death rate increased 90%, while the motor vehicle traffic death rate decreased 15%.

Looking at the period 1980 to 2008, the percentage of poisoning deaths caused by drugs increased from 56% to 89%. Of the poisoning deaths that happened in 2008, about 77% were unintentional, 13% were suicides, and 9% were of undetermined intent.

Compounding the issue is a lack of consensus on what's to account for the epidemic and what to do about it. According to Daniel Bennett, a Denver pain physician and CMO of the American News Report:

Healthcare providers have inadequate education or misconceptions regarding when and how to use these medications effectively, as well as how to manage people effectively once on the medication. Legislators are torn between public safety and the outcry from people who have been harmed from misuse of these valuable medications, often confusing addiction with pain as a disease. Compounding this is the pharmaceutical industry, including some who have introduced questionable practices in the marketing of these medications.

Another reason why Americans are top of the heap in terms of painkiller use is on account of the high use of prescription drugs in the United States. Statistics show that one third of all Americans take two or more prescription drugs, which seems astoundingly high. Moreover, the most frequently prescribed drugs are narcotics.
http://io9.com/5919434/prescription-painkillers-now-the-leading-cause-of-accidental-deaths  Lobbying effort is said to sink new controls on painkillers.
Washington, D.C. - Efforts to impose stricter controls on prescription drugs that are subject to rampant abuse have apparently failed after a groundswell of lobbying by pharmacists and drugstores, members of Congress said on Monday.

The proposed controls, sought by senators and law enforcement officials, would apply to products like hydrocodone that are used for the treatment of moderate to severe pain.

The Senate approved the new restrictions last month as part of a bill reauthorizing user fees for the Food and Drug Administration. The House version of the legislation does not address the issue. House and Senate negotiators announced Monday night that they had reached a bipartisan agreement on the overall bill, and said they hoped Congress would approve it by the end of the month.

Abuse of prescription medications has risen sharply in the last decade, with hydrocodone products among those most often misused, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A recent report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “Overdoses involving prescription painkillers are at epidemic levels and now kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined,” adding, “The death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers has more than tripled in the past decade.”

Senator Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat who led the push for new controls, said it appeared that his proposal was falling victim to the financial interests of drugstores and related businesses.

“We don’t want to put anybody out of business,” Mr. Manchin said in an interview. “But perhaps the chain pharmacies and druggists need to change their business model a bit. These are legal drugs needed by some people. But they can also be addictive. They are so readily accessible, so easy to obtain, that they are ravaging society and ending many young lives.”

Mr. Manchin’s proposal would require patients to seek new prescriptions for refills of hydrocodone-combination products like Vicodin, require a higher level of security for the storage and transportation of the drugs, and increase penalties for misuse.

Chuck Canterbury, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, urged Congress to adopt the restrictions, saying they would help reduce illicit trafficking in prescription drugs.

Pharmacists and drugstores raised two major objections. The new restrictions, they said, would make it more difficult for some people in pain to obtain treatment, and pharmacies would be saddled with costly administrative burdens.

In a letter to Congress, five groups of pharmacists and drugstores said that under Mr. Manchin’s proposal, “prescribers will no longer be able to phone in prescriptions to pharmacies for their patients.” In addition, the groups said, “there is a greater chance that patients with a legitimate clinical need would be unnecessarily forced to endure symptoms of pain for a longer period of time.”

The groups, including the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association, said the additional requirements would increase overhead costs for pharmacies. Almost every pharmacy, they said in the letter, would have to buy and install larger safes for the storage of these widely used products.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/health/policy/move-to-restrict-painkillers-founders-in-congress.html?_r=1&ref=us