Severe Increase in Prescription Drug Deaths in Utah

According to the Utah Department of Health, Utah experienced an increase in prescription drug deaths of over 400 percent in the past decade (2014).

This increase makes prescription drug overdose one of the main causes of injury-related deaths in Utah. The Utah Department of Health states that an average of twenty-one Utah residents die of prescription medication overdose every month (2014). In 2013, the state ranked eighth highest in the country for drug overdose deaths.

Unfortunately, these statistics prove the negligible impact of Utah’s “Use Only as Directed” prescription safety campaign (Lavitt, 2014).

References

Lavitt, J. (2014). Utah sees 400% increase in prescription drug deaths over past decade. Retrieved from http://www.thefix.com/content/utah-sees-400-increase-prescription-drug-deaths-over-past-decade

Utah Department of Health. (2014). Prescription drug overdoses. Retrieved from http://www.health.utah.gov/vipp/topics/prescription-drug-overdoses/