Overdose Causes
There have been more than 160,000 overdose deaths from prescription painkillers between 1999 and 2014 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, new research suggests that an overdose might not be the only big concern when it comes to prescription painkillers.
The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the drugs can cause irregular heartbeats, heart attacks, or sudden death. Lead author of the study Wayne Ray commented, “As bad as people think the problem of opioid use is, it’s probably worse.”
As if 14,000 overdose deaths in 2014 from prescription painkillers wasn’t shocking enough, imagine the amount of additional deaths linked to the drugs.