CDC: Drug overdoses took 247 lives in R.I. in 2014, 6th worst in U.S.

SEVERAL STATES. including Massachusetts, had statistically significant increases in the drug overdose death rate from 2013 to 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. / COURTESY CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
SEVERAL STATES. including Massachusetts, had statistically significant increases in the drug overdose death rate from 2013 to 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. / COURTESY CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL

(Updated, 11:18 a.m., Dec. 22)
PROVIDENCE – Drug overdoses took the lives of 247 people in Rhode Island last year, according to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Rhode Island, there were 241 drug overdose deaths in 2013.
The CDC analyzed recent multiple cause-of-death mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System to track trends and characteristics of drug overdose deaths.
“The United States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose (poisoning) deaths,” the CDC wrote in its report.
The CDC said opioids – primarily prescription pain relievers and heroin – were the main driver behind the overdose deaths.
Opioids were blamed for 28,647 deaths in 2014 – 61 percent of all drug overdose deaths. The CDC said opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 2000.
More than 47,000 people nationwide died due to drug overdoses in 2014, an increase of 6.5 percent compared with 2013, the CDC said.
Significant increases in drug overdose death rates were seen in the Northeast, Midwest and South census regions, the CDC said.
In 2014, the five states with the highest rates of death on an age-adjusted basis due to drug overdose were West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio. Rhode Island ranked sixth on the list for highest death rates.
States with statistically significant increases in the rate from 2013 to 2014 included Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Rhode Island’s rate of increase for drug overdoses ranked 22nd on the list.
The CDC said that efforts to encourage safer prescribing of opioid pain relievers should be strengthened, and access to naloxone (an antidote for all opioid-related overdoses) should be increased, to help reduce overdose deaths.
In New England, all states except Vermont saw an increase in drug overdose deaths from 2013 to 2014. Vermont saw overdose deaths drop to 83 from 93, the CDC said.

The number of drug overdose deaths in New England in 2014 and 2013 were as follows:

  • Connecticut: 623 in 2014; 582 in 2013
  • Maine: 216 in 2014; 174 in 2013
  • Massachusetts: 1,289 in 2014; 1,081 in 2013
  • New Hampshire: 334 in 2014, 203 in 2013

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