Topping heroin, cocaine combined
(NEWSER) - Are prescription drugs more dangerous than their illegal counterparts? In 2008, prescription painkiller overdoses outnumbered deaths from heroin and cocaine combined, according to a new CDC report. Of the 36,450 US overdose deaths that year, 14,800 involved opioid painkillers like oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone. That’s a significant increase from 1999, when only about 4,000 overdoses were caused by opioids, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some kind of prescription drug was involved in 20,044 of the deaths. More»
