The prevalence of opioid-related deaths has been getting an increasing amount of attention nationwide, but a new study suggests that the epidemic is much more deadly than originally. Vox reports:
According to a new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, actual opioid deaths for 2014 were 24 percent higher than previously estimated. When pulled out alone, heroin deaths were also 22 percent higher than previously estimated. That would bump up the total number of all opioid overdose deaths in 2014 from nearly 29,000 to more than 35,000.
A 24% difference is not minor—especially if we’re talking about human lives. The researchers also found some troubling trends among states’ records of opioid deaths.
Even more alarming was how much some specific states under-counted their opioid overdose death rates. For example, the corrected opioid death rates in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi were more than 100 percent higher than each state originally estimated. Most New England states generally reported accurate rates.
This gross underreporting can (and probably did) have really serious consequences. If lawmakers don’t get an accurate picture of the problem, how can we convince them to take meaningful measures to address the crisis?
The researchers behind the report hope this study will help facilitate better tracking of opioid-related overdoses. They argue that more accurate numbers can help local governments to implement effective measures to handle this growing problem.