Synthetics now killing more people than prescription opioids, report says
Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have overtaken prescription opioids as the No. 1 killer in the opioid epidemic, according to a new report.
The report, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA [DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.2844] [DX], calculated the number and percentage of synthetic opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States between 2010 and 2016 using death certificates from the National Vital Statistics System. The researchers found that about 46% of the 42,249 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016 involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, while 40% involved prescription drugs.
That's more than a three-fold increase in the presence of synthetic opioids from 2010, when synthetic drugs were involved in approximately 14% of opioid-overdose deaths.
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(Score: 2, Insightful) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday May 02 2018, @08:05AM (2 children)
If we don't get tough on the drug dealers, we are wasting our time. And that toughness includes the death penalty. Starting with the big pushers, the ones who are really killing people. The ones that will kill thousands of people during their lifetime. This is about winning a very, very tough problem and if we don't get very tough on these dealers, it is not going to happen, folks.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday May 02 2018, @06:08PM
We all know you actually mean "Drug-dealing-while-brown."
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 02 2018, @09:09PM
I agree. Death penalty for big pharma!