More people are dying of drug overdoses in the United States than in car crashes, Nicholas Garlow writes in a blog entry for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell, secretary of the HHS, announced ways to combat opioid abuse during a speech at the 4th annual National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Atlanta.
The strategies Ms. Burwell cited are:
• Provide the training, tools, and educational resources that health care professionals need to make more informed prescribing decisions.
• Increase the use of naloxone, a drug that can reverse opioid overdose*.
• Use medication-assisted treatment to help lift people from opioid addiction.
Drug overdose is the leading cause of injury death in the country. In fact, the number of drug overdoses resulting in deaths has increased fivefold since 1980, Mr. Garlow writes.
*Correction, 4/16/2015: An earlier version of this article misstated naloxone's indication.