Risk of Drug Overdose Deaths is Increasing for Prescription Rx

To characterize recent trends in drug overdose death rates in Florida, CDC analyzed data from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which found that, from 2003 to 2009, the number of annual deaths in which medical examiner testing showed lethal concentrations of one or more drugs increased 61.0%, from 1,804 to 2,905, and the death rate increased 47.5%, from 10.6 to 15.7 per 100,000 population. The death rate for prescription drugs increased 84.2%, from 7.3 to 13.4 per 100,000 population. The greatest increase was observed in the death rate from oxycodone (264.6%), followed by alprazolam (233.8%) and methadone (79.2%).

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6026a1.htm?s_cid=mm6026a1_w