Deaths from drug overdoses are increasing and have become the main cause of deaths due to accident or injury across the U.S., a report says.
In the last four years, overdose deaths saw a significant rise in 26 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C., and decreases were seen in just six states, according to a report released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
In 36 states and in the nation's capital, drug overdose deaths have surpassed motor vehicle-related deaths, the report reveals.
Almost 44,000 people die each year from drug overdoses, the report authors say, almost double the figure of 14 years ago.
About half of those 44,000 deaths are linked to prescription drugs in what the Executive Director of TFAH, Jeffrey Levi, called a "national epidemic."
Drug overdose deaths varied from state to state — West Virginia reported the highest number at 33.5 per 100,000 residents, while North Dakota had the lowest at 2.6 for every 100,000 — but the issue was a serious national problem, experts say.
"More than two million Americans misuse prescription drugs," says Corrine Peek-Asa, associate dean of research at the University of Iowa's College of Public Health. "The prescription drug epidemic is also contributing to an increase in heroin use."
"The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report" created with input from leading injury prevention experts from the Safe States Alliance and the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Prevention, contained some other significant findings.
Rates of injury-related deaths have shown significant increases in 17 states, while remaining stable in 24 states, decreasing in just nine states, with the overall national rate sitting at 58.4 per 100,000 people.
Deaths involving motor vehicles have declined over the past 10 years by 25 percent, to around 33,000 per year.
Over the last two decades, homicide death rates have dropped 42 percent, although in black male youths aged 10 to 24, the rate remains 10 times as high as that of the general population.
Suicide rates have stayed stable but persistently high at around 40,000 each year.
"One person dies from an injury every three minutes in the United States," Levi says. "Injuries are the leading cause of death for all Americans between the ages of one and 44."
They result in more than 190,000 deaths annually, and more than 25 million Americans require medical treatment for some type of injury each year, he notes.
"Injuries are not just acts of fate. Research shows that they are pretty predictable, and they are actually very preventable," Levi says, adding that finding ways to prevent injuries "is not rocket science, but it requires common sense and an investment in good public health practice."
