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NEWSFLASH

The number of treatment admissions and emergency department mentions for narcotic painkillers has increased dramatically since the mid-90s. According to data from the national Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), the number of treatment admissions involving narcotic painkillers has more than doubled since 1995, increasing from 32,859 to 84,186 in 2002. Visits to emergency departments due to use of narcotic pain relievers have also increased.

The number of emergency department mentions of narcotic pain relievers increased from 42,857 in 1995 to 108,320 in 2002, according to data from national Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). These increases in the health-related effects of narcotic painkiller abuse reflect similar increases in the nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers (see CESAR FAX Volume 11, Issue 39, and Volume 13, Issue 37).

Number of U.S. Treatment Admissions and Emergency Department Mentions for Narcotic Painkillers, 1995-2002

NOTES: Treatment admissions include admissions to publicly funded substance abuse treatment facilities in the U.S. where the primary, secondary, or tertiary substance was reported as “Other opiates/synthetics,” excluding admissions for non-prescription use of methadone. Emergency department mentions are estimates of the number of narcotic analgesic-related emergency department visits (including methadone) from a national probability sample of non-federal, short-stay hospitals.


SOURCES: Adapted by CESAR from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “Treatment Admissions Involving Narcotic Painkillers: 2002 Update,” The DASIS Report, July 23, 2004 (available online at http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k4/PainTX/PainTX.cfm) and SAMHSA, “Narcotic Analgesics, 2002 Update,” The DAWN Report, September 2004 (available online at http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k4analgesics.cfm).