Drug overdoses—predominantly from opioid painkillers such as OxyContinand Percocet—now exceed car crashes as the leading cause of unintentional deathin the United States. Perhaps that’s not surprising, considering sales ofprescription opioid painkillers in the U.S. have risen a shocking 300% since1999. In 2014, the number of opioidoverdose deaths—including those from prescription pain relievers as well asfrom the cheaper ?street? alternative, heroin—rose a record 14% from theprevious year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC). In an effort to combat theopioid epidemic, the CDC has proposed new prescribing guidelines for doctors,urging them to try other pain relief methods before turning to opioids. Despitethe widespread nature of the problem,a lot of employers don’t have theinformation they need to address this issue,? says Don Teater, medical advisorto the National Safety Council. The stigma of substance abuse keeps many peoplefrom seeking treatment.
Combating the Prescription Drug Crisis
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