The numbers are frightening. In 2015, more than 52,000 Americans died of drug overdose – the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.
Prescription opioids accounted for more than 20,000 deaths, while heroin killed 13,000. These data likely underestimate the actual numbers of fatalities. Preliminary data from 2016 indicate a worsening mortality rate.
Hundreds of cases of opioid overdose are treated in the nation’s emergency rooms daily. Such numbers can be overwhelming. Think of the opioid epidemic in terms of spouses, friends, sons and daughters named Thomas, Evelyn, Susan, Antonio, Marcus, Louise, Margaret.
Definitions: Opiates are drugs derived from the opium poppy and include morphine, codeine and heroin. Opioids are semi-synthetic drugs – chemical modifications of naturally occurring opiates. Opioids include oxycodone and hydrocodone, which are the most commonly overdosed, prescription painkillers. Fentanyl and carfentanyl are synthetic opioids, which are 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Counterfeit fentanyl, manufactured in illegal labs, is increasingly mixed with heroin, leading to a recent upsurge in opioid-related deaths. Fentanyl is so toxic that dangerous amounts can be absorbed through the skin.
Dr. Clif CleavelandThe term opioid is increasingly used to cover all of these drugs, both legal and illegal.