CLEVELAND, Ohio — The opioid epidemic that claimed 33,000 lives nationwide in 2015 may actually be worse than thought, says a report by CNN.com.
That determination is based on findings by researchers lead by Dr. Victoria Hall, a field officer with the Centers for Disease Control in Minnesota.
Earlier this month, officials in Cuyahoga County, working with cleveland.com and several others kicked off an opioid awareness campaign called “Know the Risks.”
The package included multiple stories that ran the gamut on opioid concerns from knowing the warning signs of addiction to how we got in this predicament.
Are you at risk of opioid addiction?
Doctors should screen patients for risk of addiction before prescribing opioids. But you can check out the warning signs yourself.
They researchers in Minnesota found that some deaths attributed to pneumonia may have also involved toxic levels of opioids. Opioid users have a higher risk of developing pneumonia, according to the story.
The story references the death of one middle-aged man with chronic back pain whose family was concerned that he was abusing pain medication. An autopsy revealed the presence of pneumonia and toxic levels of opioids, but the death certificate only listed pneumonia as the cause of death.
Hall said that more than half of the opioid-related deaths in Minnesota from 2006 to 2015 have not been recorded, according to the article.
Hall says that part of the problem is than an overdose is not clearly defined and that death certificates are not standardized across the country.
“It’s quite concerning, because it means that the (opioid) epidemic, which is already quite severe, could potentially be even worse,” Hall said.
How did opioid use become an epidemic?
Everything you need to know about the heroin and fentanyl epidemic, and where to get help.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/04/national_opioid_epidemic_may_b.html#incart_2box
