ER Visits for Abuse of Painkillers Double Over Five Years

June 20, 2010— -- The number of emergency room visits for nonmedical use of prescription painkillers more than doubled between 2004 and 2008, according to an estimate by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The increase was part of a trend that saw emergency room visits for nonmedical use of all prescription and over-the-counter medications reach the same level as those for abuse of illicit drugs, the agency said in the June 18 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

One implication of the findings, the agency said, is that "stronger measures to reduce the diversion of prescription drugs to nonmedical purposes are warranted."

The estimates come from the most recent data available from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which monitors drug-related emergency room visits in a sample of about 220 hospitals. For 2008, data was available from 231 hospitals and was weighted to be representative for the U.S. population.

For the analysis, nonmedical use of a drug was defined as: Taking a higher-than-recommended dose, taking a drug prescribed for another person, drug-facilitated assault, or documented misuse or abuse.

Analysis showed: