According to preliminary data compiled by The New York Times, overdosing on drugs is now now the leading cause of death among Americans under the age of 50. The data is preliminary, but it shows that overdose deaths exceeded 59,000 in 2016. That's a whopping 19% increase from the 2015 number of 52,404, and throws the growing opioid epidemic under the spotlight.
The Prime Culprits
Most of the deaths have been tied to either heroin or prescription painkillers containing a synthetic opioid known as fentanyl. Why go to a drug dealer when you can have an equally powerful painkiller prescribed to you by a doctor? In Ohio, which has seen an increase in opioid related deaths higher than the national average, nearly four billion opiod pills were prescribed between 2011 and 2015.
Opioids have not just affected any one particular group. Rich or poor, black or white, old or young, opioids have felt the strangle of these deadly drugs. Just last week, a 911 operator in Akron received an emergency call after a 1-year-old stopped breathing after getting opioids in his system. The child later died.
As one medical examiner put it, opiate overdose deaths have claimed as many American lives as the entire Vietnam war.
The start of a fight back
It has been long overdue but states are now starting to sue the drug manufacturers, claiming that they knowingly minimized the risks of addiction. Ohio is now suing five big drug companies - Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions and Allergan - that manufacture prescription painkillers, charging that they knowingly minimize the risks of addiction.
Ohio is the second state to sue the drug companies, following Mississippi.
A personal note
After knee surgery, i was prescribed morphine to help with the pain. It was the sweetest drug and truly helped me to forget the intense pain. But even as it helped me forget the pain, i could feel it's addictive strangle, which is why i decided to give it up and live with the extra pain and lousy sleep.
In the linked article above, you can see how the pharma companies are accused of spending hundreds of millions on marketing the drugs as harmless. Clearly they're anything but harmless.