Overdose deaths reach ‘epidemic proportions’ in Tennessee

FILE- In this Aug. 5, 2010, file photo, a pharmacy tech poses for a picture with hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets, the generic version of Vicodin, at Oklahoma Hospital Discount Pharmacy in Edmond, Okla. Sales of the nation's two most popular prescription painkillers have exploded in new parts of the country, an Associated Press analysis shows, worrying experts who say the push to relieve patients' suffering is spawning an addiction epidemic. From New York's Staten Island to Santa Fe, N.M., Drug Enforcement Administration figures show dramatic rises between 2000 and 2010 in the distribution of oxycodone, the key ingredient in OxyContin, Percocet and Percodan. FILE- In this Aug. 5, 2010, file photo, a pharmacy tech poses for a picture with hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets, the generic version of Vicodin, at Oklahoma Hospital Discount Pharmacy in Edmond, Okla. Sales of the nation's two most popular prescription painkillers have exploded in new parts of the country, an Associated Press analysis shows, worrying experts who say the push to relieve patients' suffering is spawning an addiction epidemic. From New York's Staten Island to Santa Fe, N.M., Drug Enforcement Administration figures show dramatic rises between 2000 and 2010 in the distribution of oxycodone, the key ingredient in OxyContin, Percocet and Percodan.

By Associated Press September 28, 2015 2 min read

NASHVILLE — Statistics from the Tennessee Department of Health revealed that 1,263 Tennesseans died in 2014 from opioid overdoses despite measures designed to stop the addiction.

In 2014, the state saw 97 more deaths caused by opioid overdoses than in 2013, The Tennessean reported. According to the report, more people died from opioid overdose in 2014 than from car accidents or by gunshots.

David Reagan, the health department’s chief medical officer, said the highest frequency of overdose deaths are found in men and women ages 45 to 55.

The newspaper reports opioids are found in prescription painkillers such as Hydrocodone and Oxycodone, which are easily attainable illegally. Hydrocodone, according to the report, can cost between $5 to $7 per pill while one pill of Oxycodone ranges from $30 to $40.

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Dr. Omar Hamada of Maury Regional Medical Center says two to three people come into the emergency room each week with an overdose that requires medical intervention.