E.R. Drug Visits Total $1.4 Billion Yearly

Close to 700,000 people each year go to the emergency room after ingesting legal and illegal drugs and growing healthcare problem that costs an estimated $1.4 billion a year. The problem is growing faster in rural areas than in urban areas, according to a study of 970 emergency rooms.

The rate of drug poisoning in rural areas is three times higher than other areas.

The study was based on the 2007 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, a database of 27 million visits to 970 emergency rooms in 27 states. During 2007, an estimated 699,123 visits for drug-related poisoning were reported in those emergency departments.

According to the Center for Injury Research and Policy study:

• Children under 6 had the highest rate of unintentional poisoning.

• The rate of drug-related poisoning in rural areas was 684 per 100,000 was 3 times higher than the rates in other areas.

• Psychotropic agents and analgesics were responsible for 43.7% of all drug-related poisoning.

• Women 18 to 20 years old had the highest ER visit rate for suicidal poisoning.

Most of the visits to the E.R. by children under 6 were precautionary visits and did not result in deaths, the study emphasizes the need to properly dispose of unused drugs to prevent accidental poisoning, the authors said.

The problem of poisoning from misuse of prescription drugs has been steadily increasing in the past 10 years, particularly for painkillers like methadone, oxycodone and hydrocodone.

^{Source: Xianga Y., et al. "ED visits for drug-related poisoning in the United States, 2007." The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2 March 2011.}

Related Information:

• Throw Away Your Unused Prescription Drugs
  
• Protecting Children from Prescription Drug Abuse
  
• Using Drugs Without a Prescription Is Illegal

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