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Drug Overdose in Ohio

What's New?

Prevalence and Trends in Unintentional Drug Overdose 

  • In 2007, unintentional drug poisoning became the leading cause of injury death in Ohio, surpassing motor vehicle crashes for the first time on record. This trend continued in 2010. 
  • From 1999 to 2011, Ohio’s death rate due to unintentional drug poisonings increased 440 percent, and the increase in deaths has been driven largely by prescription drug overdoses.
  • In Ohio, there were 327 fatal unintentional drug overdoses in 1999 growing to 1,765 annual deaths in 2011.
  • On average approximately five people died each day in Ohio due to drug overdose. 

Cost to Ohio

Drug overdoses are associated with high direct and indirect costs. Unintentional fatal drug poisonings cost Ohioans $3.5 billion on average each year; while non-fatal, hospital-admitted drug poisonings cost an additional $31.9 million. These costs include medical, work loss and quality-of-life loss. 

What is being done to address the issue?

P4PlogoODH has launched a comprehensive education and awareness campaign, known as Prescription for Prevention: Stop the Epidemic, to combat the epidemic of prescription drug misuse, abuse and overdose. The project is focused on nine high-risk counties: Adams, Clark, Clinton, Cuyahoga, Jackson, Jefferson, Mahoning, Ross and Vinton. It is a multi-level social marketing campaign that includes coalition establishment, public education and outreach, TV and radio public service announcements, peer-to-peer programs in the schools and employee outreach. www.p4pohio.org

PDAAGLOGOThe Prescription Drug Abuse Action Group (PDAAG), coordinated by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), is an ongoing work group devoted to reducing prescription drug abuse, misuse and overdose. The PDAAG serves as a point-of-contact for sharing information and initiatives regarding prescription drug abuse across the state. The PDAAG (while known as the Poison Action Group) also developed recommendations in 2009-2010 that provided the basis for the Ohio Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force's (OPDATF) work. The PDAAG is now prioritizing OPDATF recommendations that they will be able to assist in implementing.

ODH Pilot Projects: Two pilot projects in Montgomery and Scioto Counties are funded by the Violence and Injury Prevention Program through the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant from CDC. These projects are funded to implement comprehensive community-based efforts to address prescription drug misuse, abuse and overdose through: coalition development, education of service providers, formation of a poison death review committee, implementation of public education and awareness campaigns, and registration of prescribers with the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS).

Providing start-up support and resources for Scioto County’s Naloxone distribution program: DAWN (Deaths Avoided with Naloxone); the first of its kind in the State.

Click here to find an Rx Abuse Prevention Coalition Near You!

Encouraging excess drug disposal solutions and methods through the development of take-back guidelines, support for permanent drop boxes.

Collaboration with other state organizations to plan conferences, summits and educational opportunities.  

Providing support for the Governor’s Opiate Cabinet Action Team, Prescriber Education Work Group including development of Emergency Department and Acute Care Opioid and Other Controlled Substances Prescribing Guidelines.

Click here for an overview of all ODH initiatives to address prescription drug abuse, misuse and overdose.

Click here for an overview of State of Ohio initiatives to address prescription drug abuse, misuse and overdose.

 

Last Reviewed 5/7/13