Report: States lax in taking steps to curb prescription drug abuse

The number of deaths attributed to the abuse of painkillers and other prescription drugs has risen sharply in recent years.    

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Addressing A Dangerous Epidemic: Abuse Of Painkillers And Other Prescription Drugs
About 50 Americans die every day from a prescription drug overdose -; a tally that, in most states, turns out to be more than deaths from car accidents. In a new report, 'Prescription Drug Abuse: Strategies to Stop the Epidemic,' researchers at the Trust for America's Health found that rates of overdose and addiction doubled since 1999 in most states. In West Virginia -; the state with the highest number of drug overdose deaths -; the rate was six times higher than fourteen years ago (Rao, 10/7).

McClatchy: Report: States Lack Strategies To Curb Prescription Drug Overdoses
Prescription-drug overdose deaths have risen sharply in recent years, and a majority of states are not implementing the best strategies to curb them, according to a new report from a health-care advocacy group. The report from the Washington-based Trust for America's Health, which was released Monday, found that 28 states – including Alaska, Pennsylvania and Texas – and the District of Columbia had put in place six or fewer out of 10 promising strategies to lessen prescription drug overuse (Helblig, 10/7).

Medpage Today: Rx Drug Abuse Up, States Lax In Curbing It
Most states are doing little to help curb prescription drug abuse even as the number of prescription drug overdose deaths has doubled in 29 states since 1999, according to a report released Monday. A total of 28 states and the District of Columbia met six or fewer indicators showing they had implemented strategies to prevent prescription drug abuse, the report from the Trust for America's Health said. Meanwhile, prescription drug overdose deaths have tripled in 10 states and quadrupled in four states since 1999; nationally, prescription drug-related deaths now outnumber those from heroin and cocaine combined (Pittman, 10/7).