US opioid deaths jump as epidemic shifts to Eastern states

The research, which is based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census, suggests the opioid epidemic has evolved as three waves, based on the types of opioids associated with mortality:

• The first wave of opioid-related deaths, from the 1990s until about 2010, was associated with prescription painkillers.
• The second wave, from 2010 until recently, was associated with a large increase in heroin-related deaths.
• The third and current wave, which began around 2013, involves a rapid increase in deaths associated with illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, such as tramadol and fentanyl.

“The evolution has also seen a wider range of populations being affected, with the spread of the epidemic from rural to urban areas and considerable increases in opioid-related mortality observed in the black population,” the study says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that African-Americans experienced the largest increase in opioid overdose deaths among any racial group from 2016 to 2017, with a 26 percent surge.

Source: US opioid deaths jump fourfold in 20 years; epidemic shifts to Eastern states