Abuse of Painkillers is Sending as many People to Hospital as Ilegal Drugs

In 2008, there were an estimated 1 million visits to the emergency room from people abusing prescription drugs

The abuse of painkillers and other drugs is sending as many people to the emergency room as the abuse of illegal drugs. In 2008, there were an estimated 1 million visits to the emergency room from people abusing prescription or over-the-counter medications. According to a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, that was approximately the same amount of visits from people overdosing on illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine.

This marks a significant change from five years ago when illegal drug visits to the emergency room outnumbered those from legal drugs by a two to one margin. The number of visits to the emergency room from prescription drugs has doubled.

"It’s a pretty startling jump," said Peter Delany, of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Delany led a team that worked on the report with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Visits to the emergency room for oxycodone and hydrocodone more than doubled from 2004 to 2008. Reported cases from one kind of tranquilizer nearly doubled during the same time period. According to the report, the estimated are based on data from more than 200 emergency rooms around the country. Many of the reported cases may be overdoses, but some may be from mixing drugs or combining them with alcohol.

Health officials do not know why painkiller abuse escalated so dramatically. More prescriptions were written, so officials believe some of those people including in the data were using the medication legally. The report did not account how many of the ER patients died. Last year, a report from the CDC found that the rate of deaths attributed to drugs doubled from the late 1990s to 2006. Most of that increase was attributed to painkillers like OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone.

"The abuse of prescription drugs is our nation’s fastest-growing drug problem," said Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy