These are unintended deaths resulting from abuse or improper use of legal opioids and narcotics. If child molesters or drunken drivers or cultists were killing 300 Utahns a year, imagine the clamor. But this, for the most part, has been a silent epidemic. That's about to change.
This week is Prescription Safety Awareness Week. In observance, the Utah Department of Health is intensifying its multipronged, multimedia public education campaign: "Use Only as Directed." The slogan is short, punchy, to the point and, hopefully, effective. If Utahns would simply follow that rule for their prescription medications, there would be a lot less work for the medical examiner, a lot more room at the morgue, a lot less mourning.
Methadone, fentanyl, hydrocodone and other drugs of that ilk are equal-opportunity killers. Half of the victims are male, half female. They range in age from 15 to 80. Most have, or have had, a prescription for the drug that did them in.
The incidence has grown at an alarming rate. It is now the No. 1 cause of accidental deaths in Utah. A decade ago, about 40-50 Utahns died each year from prescription drug overdoses, or deadly combinations of prescribed medications. Last year, 320 perished.
The Health Department, with $300,000 from the state Legislature that leveraged an additional $700,000 from other sources, has been studying and taking aim at the problem.
It's a target-rich environment. Physicians. Pharmacists. Pharmaceutical companies. The health insurance industry. Consumers. All share in the blame.
Some doctors play it fast and loose with the prescription pad. Pharmacists sometimes fail to deliver verbal warnings or detect forged prescriptions. Drug manufacturers offer incentives for prescribing their drugs. Some insurance-company policies encourage use of inexpensive opioids instead of non-narcotic pain relievers. And consumers fail to heed that simple, sage advice: "Use only as directed."
Taken as directed, these powerful drugs can make life bearable for people in pain. When abused or misused, they can make life end. Learn more at www.useonlyasdirected.org.
