Opioid Crisis Data

The Centers for Disease Control and Infection (CDC) December 2016 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report analyzed data from 2010 – 2015, which shows:

• Increases seen in 2015 in the United States
• Ninety-one people die every day from an opioid overdose, up from seventy-eight per day in 2014
• 52,404 deaths attributed to drug overdoses, 11.4% increase from 47,055 in 2014
• 63% overdose deaths involved an opioid (61% in 2014)
• 72% increase from 2014 – 2015 in deaths from synthetic opioids other than methadone; most likely illicitly-manufactured fentanyl
• 21% increase in heroin deaths 2014 – 2015
• Increase across all demographic groups, region, and in numerous states
• Deaths attributed to methadone are down by 9.1%
• Evidence that efforts to reduce opioid prescribing could help reduce the number exposed to opioids

On November 18, 2016, the Office of the Surgeon General released The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, describing the misuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, and other substances:

• Over 20 million people aged 12 or older has a substance use disorder. This rate is similar to diabetes and more than 1.5 times the annual prevalence of all cancers combined.
• Despite the fact that we have treatments we know are effective, only one in five people who currently need treatment for opioid use disorders is actually receiving it.
• Updated science on the adverse health consequences.
• Prevention, treatment, and recovery.
• Ways to equip health care providers, communities, policymakers, law enforcement, and others with the evidence, the tools, and the information they need to take action to address this growing epidemic.
• Vision for the future

Opioid Epidemic Data

• SAMHSA
• Prescription Drug Use and Misuse in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, September 2016
• The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) public use file is the primary source of statistical information on the use of tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit drugs by the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older.
• CDC
• Vital Signs: Opioid overdoses treated in emergency departments
• Opioid data overview
• Increases in drug and opioid-involved overdose deaths - United States, 2010–2015
• Increases in drug and opioid overdose deaths - United States, 2000–2014
• Drug overdose deaths in the United States continue to increase in 2015
• Vital Signs: Opioid painkiller prescribing – Where you live makes a difference, July 2014
• HHS
• The opioid epidemic: By the numbers, June 2016
• Opioids: The prescription drug & heroin overdose epidemic
• AHRQ
• Opioid-Related Hospitalizations up 64 percent Nationwide Between 2005-2014; First State-by State Analysis Shows Wide Variations, December 2016
• CMS
  • CMS posts update of Medicare Part D opioid prescribing mapping tool, April 16, 2018

Other Related Reports

• IHI: Addressing the Opioid Crisis in the United States, 2017
• National Pain Strategy, 2016
• IOM: Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research, 2011
  

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