The ADHS team recently launched a new dashboard providing more details on the possible opioid overdoses and deaths that have been reported to us since June 15 when the enhanced surveillance executive order went into effect. One of the features of the dashboard is the display of possible overdoses by week. With six weeks of reports of real time [...]
The 2016 Arizona Opioid Report is out today and the numbers are alarming. The data shows an average of two Arizonans die each day from an opioid overdose . We issued a news release highlighting the report and the threat to our community. The information in the report shows us 790 overdose deaths last year [...]
Every year our most popular annual report (it’s not even close) is called the Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Annual Report. We released the 2012 Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Annual Report this week- and this time it’s mobile friendly so can pull it up on your IPad, IPhone and other Android devices. The document contains hotlinks and [...]
50 years ago this week the 1st Surgeon General’s report on the health dangers of smoking was published- and we’re still fighting the battle. About 43 million Americans still smoke despite decades of warnings. Smoking kills more people every year than car crashes, suicides, murders, illegal and prescription drugs, and alcohol abuse combined (6,800 people [...]
According to a new CDC report, about 18 U.S. women die every day of a prescription painkiller overdose, totaling more than 6,600 deaths in 2010. This is a stunning increase of 400% since 1999. Every 3 minutes, a woman goes to the emergency department for prescription painkiller misuse or abuse. The report explains that women [...]
The number of prescriptions filled for opioid pain relievers has increased dramatically along with deaths from overdoses from painkillers (more than 1000 in AZ last year), leading the CDC to identify prescription drug abuse a problem of "epidemic" proportions. To better equip physicians against this crisis, the National Institute on Drug Abuse offers two free online [...]
This week marks the 50th anniversary of National Poison Prevention Week. For the first time ever- poisoning surpassed car crashes as the number one cause of injury deaths in AZ and more than 2,000 kids had to go to emergency rooms last year from unintentional poisoning. Kids under 5 had the highest rates of non-fatal emergency department visits from poisoning. For more [...]
I know I read like a broken record- but prescription painkiller misuse and abuse is a huge public health issue not just here- but nationally. The newest edition of CDC Vital Signs presents information about prescription painkiller overdoses in the United States and highlights promising strategies for addressing the issue. Please share this information broadly with [...]
More than 1,100 Arizonans died from drug poisoning, which is more than the number of Arizonans that die in car accidents every year. This isn’t just an Arizona public health crisis, it’s a national one. Last week the federal government released a new plan to address the national prescription drug abuse epidemic and announced new [...]
