Fueled by Growing Painkiller Use, Child Poisonings on the Rise

Drug overdose has now overtaken automobile crashes as the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., according to an analysis of government data. This is the first time that drugs have killed more people than car wrecks since the government began tracking drug-related fatalities in 1979.

The increase in drug deaths can be ascribed largely to a surge in overdoses involving prescription painkillers. According to a separate analysis, that same increase in prescription drug use by adults may also be fueling a related trend in children under 5: from 2001 to 2008, accidental drug poisonings of young children increased 22%.

Statistics from 2009, the latest year for which data are available, show that 37,485 people died of drug overdose that year, compared with 33,808 who were killed in traffic accidents, according to the analysis by the Los Angeles Times. The paper's report was based on statistics from the from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/19/fueled-by-growing-painkiller-use-overdose-deaths-and-child-poisonings-are-on-the-rise/#ixzz1YUnpti29