Americans now more likely to die from opioid overdose than a car crash, study finds
The opioid epidemic in the United States has reached another dubious milestone.
For the first time ever, Americans are more likely to die from an opioid overdose than in a car crash, according to a new study from the National Safety Council.
The Council used 2017 death rate data — the most recent year for which the numbers are available — to find that the odds of someone in the U.S. dying from what it calls an “accidental opioid overdose” are 1 in 96.
The odds of dying in a car wreck? One in 103, the study says.
“The nation’s opioid crisis is fueling the Council’s grim probabilities, and that crisis is worsening with an influx of illicit fentanyl,” a National Safety Council news release states.
“We’ve made significant strides in overall longevity in the United States, but we are dying from things typically called accidents at rates we haven’t seen in half a century,” Ken Kolosh, manager of statistics at the Council, said in the release. “We cannot be complacent about 466 lives lost every day. This new analysis reinforces that we must consistently prioritize safety at work, at home and on the road to prevent these dire outcomes.”
While fentanyl plays a role in the dubious uptick, opioid pain relievers are also part of the problem, the Council says. Every day, more than 100 people die from opioids in the U.S. — for a total of 37,814 deaths per year.
A 2014 survey by the Substance Abuse and Medical Health Services Administration reported that there are about 4.3 million people in the U.S. who use opioids for nonmedical purposes.
This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 3:53 PM.
