ShareCompartir
Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
Announcements: Release of Issue Brief: Unintentional Drug Poisoning in the United States
In 2006, a total of 26,389 deaths from unintentional drug poisoning occurred in the United States, with the national age-adjusted death rate more than doubling since 1999, from 4.0 to 8.8 per 100,000 population (1). Opioid pain medications were involved in more than half of the drug poisoning deaths in 2006 in which a drug was specified (2).
On March 18, 2010, CDC released an issue brief, Unintentional Drug Poisoning in the United States, summarizing the most recent information regarding deaths and emergency department visits resulting from drug overdoses. That brief includes information on overdose trends, the most common drugs involved, and the regions and populations most severely affected. Recommendations on how health-care providers, private insurance providers, and state and federal agencies can work to prevent unintentional drug overdoses also are included. The issue brief is available at http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/poisoning/activities.htm.
Additional educational resources regarding poisoning prevention are available from CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/poisoning/index.html and http://www.cdc.gov/features/medicinesafety. The national toll-free telephone number for poison-control centers is 1-800-222-1222.
References
- CDC. Compressed mortality file, 1999--2006. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2009. Available at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html. Accessed March 15, 2010.
- Warner M, Chen LH, Makuc DM. Increase in fatal poisonings involving opioid analgesics in the United States, 1999--2006. NCHS Data Brief 2009(22). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db22.pdf. Accessed March 15, 2010.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.
References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from typeset documents.
This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version.
Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr)
and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables.
An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371;
telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to
mmwrq@cdc.gov.
