Overdoses boost Ohio’s rate of injury-related deaths

Study finds state’s rate now above national average.

Ohio’s rate of injuryrelated deaths is rising, largely due to drug overdoses, a new study reported Wednesday.

The study, a joint effort called “The Facts Hurt” by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, reports that injuries remain the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 44.

The study says Ohio’s injury-related death rate from 2011 to 2013, the most recent years available, was 63.9 per 100,000 people. From 2007 to 2009, the rate was 55.9.

The increase boosted the state past the national rate of 58.4 and places Ohio 24th among states. The last time around, Ohio ranked 38th.

In Ohio, there are 19.2 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people, making it the state’s leading cause of injury, the report said.

Ohio experienced one of the nation’s highest increases in overdose deaths since 2012. Ohio’s rate now ranks eighth among states.

“I never imagined this happening in my lifetime, when the leading cause of injury-related death is drug overdose, even more than motor vehicles,” said Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Nationwide, nearly 44,000 people die from drug overdoses every year. Prescription drugs account for half of those deaths.

“We really do have a lot of work to do,” Smith said. “That’s the call to action this report emphasizes.”

Ohio has long grappled with drug abuse issues. In 2013, 2,110 Ohio residents died of a drug overdose, an increase of 196 from the previous year, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Ohio is taking steps to curb addiction and overdoses.

For example, the use of naloxone, a drug that counteracts overdoses, is helping. State statistics show 12,151 doses of naloxone were administered in Ohio in 2013 alone.

“I’ve seen naloxone work, it’s absolutely remarkable,” Smith said.

Rich Hamburg, deputy director of Trust for America’s Health, said education and prevention are paramount.

“How do you educate children and adults to the dangers of misusing prescription drugs in the first place?” he said.

In other types of injury-related deaths, Ohio’s rates are closer to national rates.

In falls, suicides and homicides among children ages 0 to 19, Ohio’s death rate is higher than the national rate. But in deaths related to car crashes, Ohio’s rate is lower than the overall rate nationwide.

Hamburg said the new report is supposed to highlight what each state faces and what policies are being used to reduce injury-related deaths.

“There are good things happening from policy standpoints in different states,” he said.

“We want one state to see what works in others.”

Hamburg said changes in laws concerning such things as seatbelts and drunken driving have worked.

“In the field of injury prevention, we have enough victories over the years to build upon,” he said.