Reports

From 1999-2017, almost 400,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids. This rise in opioid overdose deaths can be outlined in three distinct waves.

The number of prescription opioid-related overdose deaths excluding involvement of fentanyl declined almost 28 percent since 2011, and to an eight-year low. Prescription opioid-related overdose deaths also accounted for a substantially smaller percentage of all unintentional overdose deaths in 2017 (10.8 percent) than in 2011 (40.9 percent). The decline in prescription opioid deaths corresponded with Ohio’s efforts to reduce the prescription opioid supply available for misuse and diversion, which has included shutting down pill mills, putting in place prescribing guidelines, strengthening prescription drug monitoring, stepping up enforcement efforts and developing new regulations for drug wholesalers.

In 2016, 4,050 Ohioans died because of unintentional drug overdoses, and preliminary 2017 data indicates that the number of deaths has continued to rise. The overview and project description for HPIO’s Addiction Evidence Project provides additional information about drug trends and the factors driving this epidemic.