The Opioid Crisis

Texas Legislative Council

OPIOIDS IN AMERICA:

A National Crisis

Texas Legislative Council

Part 2:

Economic & Social Consequences

Part 3:

Calls to Action

Part 4:

The State of Texas

Opioids in America

The United States is grappling with a public health crisis surrounding the use and abuse of opioids. 

Between 1999 and 2016, opioid overdose deaths increased by more than 400 percent, and in 2016, opioids were involved in two-thirds of the nearly 64,000 drug overdose deaths reported nationwide. 

Each day in 2016, an average of 116 Americans died from an opioid overdose and 2.1 million people had an opioid use disorder.

Empty text

Empty text

The Opioid Crisis

How bad is it?

Nationally, the number of overdose deaths involving opioid drugs has increased every year for more than a decade, with death rates climbing from roughly 5% to more than 13%. CDC data indicates that there were more than 42,000 opioid overdose deaths in the United States in 2016.

Opioid overdose deaths

All overdose deaths

Opioid Overdose Deaths

All Overdose Deaths

Opioids in America

The CDC categorizes opioids as follows:

prescription opioids

methadone

heroin

synthetic opioids, including fentanyl 

Prescription opioids have historically accounted for the largest number of opioid-related overdose deaths. In recent years, however, the number of retail opioid prescriptions dispensed has decreased as attempts have been made to address the nation's prescription opioid problem.

Opioids in America

As the availability of prescription opioids has decreased, there has been a dramatic increase in the abuse of both heroin and synthetic opioids.

By the following year, synthetic opioids other than methadone had overtaken heroin as the leading cause of such deaths, while prescription drugs accounted for fewer deaths than either.

In 2015, heroin overtook prescription opioids as the leading cause of opioid-related drug deaths.

Opioids in America

64.1-82.9

83.0-107.1

> 107.1

< 64.1

Despite recent progress in addressing the abuse of prescription opioids, the abundance of opioid prescriptions remains a concern. In many counties across the country, the number of such prescriptions dispensed during 2016 was near to or in excess of the number of people living in the county.

64.1-82.9

83.0-107.1

> 107.1

< 64.1

no data

64.1-82.9

83.0-107.1

> 107.1

< 64.1

no data

Number of Opioid Prescriptions per 100 People, by County

2016

57.2-82.3

82.4-112.5

> 112.5

< 57.2

no data

Prescriptions

per 100 people

Opioids in America

Non-Hispanic whites make up a disproportionate share of the victims of opioid overdose deaths.

While constituting 61 percent of the American population in 2016, this group accounted for 79 percent of opioid overdose deaths.

Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic populations accounted for 10 and 8 percent of the total opioid overdose deaths, while constituting 12 and 18 percent of the American public, respectively.

Opioids in America

Nonetheless, the opioid overdose death rates for both the non-Hispanic black and Hispanic populations increased sharply between 2015 and 2016.

Opioids in America

The opioid abuse epidemic has been particularly severe in rural America.

Opioids in America

The rate of newborn babies experiencing withdrawal symptoms from opioid dependency surged between 2004 and 2013, growing from 1.2 to 7.5 of every 1,000 births in rural areas.

This increase is some 80 percent higher than the increase in urban areas.

Because of the increase in opioid use and abuse, opioid-related inpatient hospital stays increased by 64% between 2005 and 2014, while opioid-related emergency department visits nearly doubled.

In 2014 alone there were nearly 1.3 million opioid-related emergency room visits and inpatient hospital stays nationwide.

Opioids in America

The opioid epidemic is placing a tremendous strain on the nation's healthcare system. 

The national life expectancy decreased again in 2016, marking the first two-year decline since 1963.

The increase in opioid-related overdose deaths played a role in a decrease in the life expectancy in the United States. For the first time since the early 1990s, the national life expectancy decreased in 2015.

Opioids in America

The national life expectancy decreased again in 2016, marking the first two-year decline in the national life expectancy since 1963.

The increase in opioid-related overdose deaths played a role in a decrease in the life expectancy in the United States. For the first time since the early 1990s, the national life expectancy decreased in 2015.

Opioids in America

In the decade preceding 2017, more than 250,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose. 

Opioids in America

Public health experts are predicting that upwards of 650,000 Americans will die from an opioid overdose during the coming decade unless additional steps are taken to address the availability of drug treatment programs and the pervasiveness of synthetic opioids.

The second presentation in TLC's four-part series exploring the opioid crisis unfolding in America will examine the socioeconomic costs associated with the crisis.

The abuse of opioids costs the nation's economy tens of billions of dollars each year in lost productivity and additional healthcare, criminal justice, and social service expenditures. 

Opioids in America

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/opioid-overdose-deaths-by-raceethnicity   https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2592302   https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb219-Opioid-Hospital-Stays-ED-Visits-by-State.pdf   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/06/20/in-just-one-year-nearly-1-3-million-americans-needed-hospital-care-for-opioid-related-issues/?utm_term=.aedd870f28bb   https://www.statnews.com/2017/06/27/opioid-deaths-forecast/Researchers at universities around the country are predicting that the opioid crisis gripping America will continue to get worse in the years to come.

Sources:

For questions, please contact Logan Moore in the TLC Research Division at 512-463-1155.

Opioids in America