In April the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) hosted the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit and revealed some surprising drug abuse facts, particularly about painkillers. Did you know that prescription opiate overdose deaths have quintupled since 1980? And that for every death related to prescription painkillers, there are 115 people addicted to painkillers and 4.35 million dollars in health care costs? And yet these dangerous drugs are being used at alarming rates.
Here are some drug abuse facts that you should be aware of if you are considering taking or currently taking prescription opiate painkillers:
