Accidental Deaths in Pennsylvania Rose in 2016, Driven By Opioid Overdose

According to National Safety Council (NSC) analysis of federal data, 1,086 more Pennsylvanians died accidentally in 2016, an increase of 15 percent over 2015. Opioid overdose led to 78 percent of those deaths.

This comes on the back of NSC survey results that show Americans living in the Northeast region of the U.S. may have a better understanding of how to solve opioid misuse than residents of other regions.

In response to the epidemic, which was declared a statewide disaster emergency by Governor Tom Wolf, the Council made Pittsburgh, Penn., its first stop on a nationwide tour of the NSC exhibit: Prescribed to Death: A Memorial to the Victims of the Opioid Crisis.

The memorial exhibit is one of several components of the Council’s Stop Everyday Killers campaign — a national effort to educate Americans about the risks of taking opioids and put a face on the thousands killed from prescription opioid overdose.

“The Stop Everyday Killers campaign brings people face-to-face with the crisis that has taken far too many friends and family members in Pennsylvania,” said NSC President and CEO Deborah A.P. Hersman in a press release issued by the NSC. “One in four has been directly impacted by opioids, but we all can play a role in saving lives.”

The Prescribed to Death exhibit includes a memorial wall made of 22,000 small white pills, each carved with a human face, representing the 22,000 lost to prescription opioid overdose in 2015. Visitors will receive first-of-their-kind “Opioids: Warn Me” labels for insurance and pharmacy cards in an effort to prompt a critical conversation between patients and prescribers about risks and possible alternatives. One-in-three Americans prescribed an opioid in the prior three years did not realize the medicine they were taking was an opioid, according to the NSC survey.

While most survey responses were consistent across all regions of the country, residents in the Northeast region — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont – were more likely to:

• Have heard of naloxone (70 percent versus 55 percent nationwide), a drug used to counteract an overdose
• Understand naloxone is simple to use (38 percent versus 29 percent)
• Know that naloxone is available without a prescription (16 percent to 11 percent)
• Confidently know which treatments or medications work best for opioid misuse (36 percent versus 29 percent)

Unfortunately, 26 percent of Northeast region respondents said they would improperly throw their old medicines away or flush them down the toilet, versus only eight percent of respondents elsewhere.

Incorrect disposal of medications can lead to the medications falling into the wrong hands or polluting the environment. In an effort to help Americans properly dispose of unused medicines, NSC partnered with Stericycle to provide pre-paid Seal&Send envelopes to memorial visitors so they can mail back old drugs safely.

Prescribed to Death, which is housed in the lower level of the William Pitt Student Union at the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus, is free and open to the public. The “Opioids: Warn Me” labels and the Seal&Send envelopes are also available at no charge.

The NSC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to eliminate preventable deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the road through leadership, research, education and advocacy. Founded in 1913 and chartered by U.S. Congress, NSC advances this mission by partnering with businesses, government agencies, elected officials and the public.