Fentanyl and its analogues are indicated in half of the "opioid" deaths, not to mention heroin, cocaine, meth and "other" drugs.
LINK
In other words, druggies, not people getting medicine for pain.
I wonder if the OD's are now higher because the "pill pusher" docs, who gave out percocet are now out of business so the addicts no longer buy the pills from someone who got them for "pain", or from the drug pipelines who got them from pharmacies (often just across the Mexican border)
The opioids are from China and sent up via the Mexican drug gangs. Building the wall might help.
And yes, making Naloxone over the counter will help.
The problem? often the Naloxone wears off before the drug used in the overdose wears off (and it won't work when the drugs are mixed with non opioids). So an hour later, they die anyway.
Sigh.
and I also wonder how many cases are patients in chronic pain who accidentally overdose, or people who use these type of drugs to kill themselves.
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