One of the most recently published reports of opioid overdose death statistics indicate that this epidemic is especially prevalent in young people, accounting for 20 percent of all young adult deaths in 2016.

According to the CDC, the opioid overdose death statistics state that over 42,000 people died from this cause in 2016 and that the problem of opioid addiction is impacting many different patient populations.

These opioid overdose death statistics were gathered from federal estimations, with researchers pointing out that the problem of opioid addiction is probably greater than statistics show because not all incidents are reported. This means that this study and other inquiries, most likely does not illustrate the impact the opioid crisis has had on society.

“Proper allocation of resources for the opioid epidemic depends on understanding the magnitude of the problem, and incomplete death certificate reporting prevents lawmakers, treatment specialists, and public health officials from doing so,” the researchers stated as reported by Time.

Opioids are powerful pain medications that are typically prescribed for short term treatment purposes. But manufacturing companies are accused of misrepresenting the safety information regarding dosing. These medications have a similar nature to heroin, which makes them highly addictive.

Overview of Opioid Overdose Death Statistics

This opioid overdose death statistics report was published in Public Health Reports, with researchers finding that approximately 70,000 opioid overdose deaths were not reported or classified between 1999 and 2015 that were reportedly caused by coding issues on death certificates.

There were reportedly a total of 438,600 accidental drug overdose deaths reported in the new study, with approximately 255,500 of them coded as opioid overdoses. An additional 85,600 were coded as non opioid related overdoses, and 97,000 overdoses were not specified.

When someone dies of a drug overdose, the code may appear in a confusing or unclear way on the death certificate. The codes used to identify causes of death on death certificates are set by the National Center for Health Statistics, with two codes designated for overdoses.

One code reportedly pertains to specific narcotics, while the other code is for “other and unspecified narcotics.” Researchers involved in the study theorized that many of the unspecified overdose deaths were caused by opioids.

Researchers adjusted the data of the study concluding that approximately 70,000 unspecified overdose deaths should have been classified as opioid incidents. With these adjusted results, the opioid overdose death statistics significantly increased for the number of initially reported incidents from different areas of the country during the study.

Researchers discovered opioid overdose death statistics discrepancies in different states including Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Alabama, Indiana, and Mississippi with 35% of all overdose deaths classified as unspecified. These discrepancies had to do with how deaths were reported.

In contrast, Washington D.C. and 17 states used specific codes for all drug overdose deaths. It was also noted that areas where medical examiners were used to determine the cause of death tended to be more accurate with drug specifications than states using county coroners or hybrid systems.

The FDA and CDC have been keeping a close eye on opioid overdose death statistics since the late 1990s, after an increasing number of patients became addicted to these medications soon after starting their prescription. Researchers have found that approximately 183,000 patients have died from opioid overdose between 1999 and 2015.

In general, opioid overdose death lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

If your loved died from an opioid overdose in the last three years from an addiction that began as a legal opioid prescription from his or her doctor, you may have a legal claim. Get help now by filling out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.

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