​The number of deaths per year from drug overdoses increased by 23% between 2010 and 2014, according to a December 20, 2016, study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A total of 47,055 deaths were attributed to drug overdoses in the United States in 2014, CDC said, up from 38,329 in 2010. The drugs most frequently cited in overdose deaths remained the same during the study period: opioids (heroin, oxycodone, methadone, morphine, hydrocodone, and fentanyl); benzodiazepines (alprazolam and diazepam); and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine), but their order of likelihood changed. Heroin was the most frequent cause of death from drug overdose in 2014, whereas it was the fifth most frequent cause in 2010; indeed, a December 2016 Statistical Brief from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) found a 200% increase in opioid-related overdose deaths from 2010 to 2014. CDC also found that oxycodone, the most common cause of drug overdose death in 2010, dropped to third in 2014. During the study period, drug overdose deaths involving heroin more than tripled (from 3,020 in 2010 to 10,863 in 2014) and overdose deaths involving methamphetamine more than doubled. Overdose deaths involving fentanyl more than doubled from 2013 to 2014 alone (from 1,905 to 4,200). Of the drugs discussed in the report, only methadone showed a decrease in overdose deaths during the study period. Nearly half (48%) of reports of overdose deaths mentioned more than one specific drug. This number varied from drug to drug. For example, more than 95% of overdose deaths involving diazepam or alprazolam also involved another drug, while 52% of heroin overdose deaths involved another drug. The results of this study emphasized the need to include specific drugs involved in a death on a death certificate, the authors said.

HRC Recommends: Risk managers should encourage a patient-centered approach to identifying and treating substance abuse disorders and ensure that staff are trained in assessing patients' behavioral health needs and in providing or arranging for appropriate treatment. Providers must also address potential adverse legal and medical consequences that can arise from improper prescribing and administration of narcotics and pain medications; ensure that patients in pain receive appropriate relief in accordance with accepted standards of care; and provide appropriate care or referral to patients requiring treatment for heroin use or opioid abuse.