The Opioid Epidemic is Growing More Deadly, New Data Suggests | Chasing Heroin | FRONTLINE | PBS
▻http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-opioid-epidemic-is-growing-more-deadly-new-data-suggests
Numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics reveal the worsening toll of the opioid epidemic in communities across the country. There were around 20 overdose deaths for every 100,000 people during the third quarter of 2016, according to the data, compared to 16.7 deaths during the same period a year earlier. More than half of all overdose deaths involve an opioid.
Overdose deaths also rose during the first half of 2016, according to government estimates. Figures for the final three months of the year are not yet available, but if trends persist, the total number of drug related deaths are on pace to eclipse the record 52,404 experienced in 2015.