In Tennesse, overdosing on opioid painkillers has become an epidemic that the state cannot continue to ignore. Deaths from opioid overdoses are now greater than gun deaths and car accidents.
As AllGov.com reports:
Last year’s total of opioid overdoses was 1,263 up 97 over the total in 2013, according to The Tennessean. Opioids are found in prescription painkillers such as Hydrocodone and Oxycodone, nicknamed “hillbilly heroin.”
“It’s an epidemic sweeping across the state, affecting people in both small towns and big circles,” wrote Holly Fletcher in The Tennessean.
“I would like to think the rate of increase has slowed, but quite frankly the 2014 numbers don’t really allow me to say that,” said David Reagan, chief medical officer of the Tennessee Department of Health. “It is at epidemic proportions in our state.”
For more on this, read the article from AllGov.com titled: “Painkiller Overdoses Kill More in Tennessee than Car Accidents or Guns.“
