Accidental overdoses killed eight a day

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Accidental drug overdoses killed 3,050 people in Ohio last year, an average of eight per day, as deaths blamed on the powerful painkiller fentanyl again rose sharply and pushed the total overdose fatalities to a record high, the state reported Thursday. More than one-third of those deaths – 1,155 – were fentanyl-related, which more than doubled from the previous year and increased from just 75 in 2012. Authorities who had been targeting prescription painkiller abuse say the problem has changed quickly in recent years as users turned to heroin, fentanyl and even stronger drugs.