New Statistics Show Doctors Positively Impacting Opioid Epidemic

MONTGOMERY — Alabama’s physicians are having a positive impact on the opioid epidemic here at home while national statistics are showing for the first time, Americans’ odds of dying from an accidental opioid overdose are higher – 1 in 96 – than from a motor vehicle crash – 1 in 103.

Using data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention comparing overdose deaths from 2017 to 2018, states and the District of Columbia are ranked by the largest positive change between the two years. The area with the largest decrease in opioid deaths ranked No. 1, while the state with the highest increase in opioid deaths ranked No. 50.

Alabama ranked 14 in the new CDC study with a decrease of 5.3 percent.

• Predicted 12-month count, June 2017: 836
• Predicted 12-month count, June 2018: 792

Because fatal drug overdoses are often underestimated, the CDC also factored for predicted cases. Metrics include percent completeness in overall death reporting, the percentage of deaths with the cause of death pending further investigation and the percentage of drug overdose deaths with specific or drug classes reported, according to the CDC.

National rankings of fatal opioid overdose rates in each state and the District of Columbia for 2017 are also based on data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The data include deaths from both legally prescribed and illegally produced fentanyl.

The age-adjusted opioid overdose death rate for the U.S. was 14.9 per 100,000 individuals. In Alabama, the age-adjusted opioid overdose death rate was 9 per 100,000 individuals. Alabama ranked 36 out of 51 states, including the District of Columbia for 2017, the third lowest in the Southeast and far below the national average.

“This is extremely good news for Alabama and shows that the hard work of our physicians and the programs that the Medical Association and our leadership have instituted are truly making a difference in our state by saving lives,” said Association Executive Director Mark Jackson. “Until 2013 Alabama was one of the only states offering an opioid prescribing education course when the FDA developed the blueprint for Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies for producers of controlled substances. As the need for that prescribing track has grown, we’ve made adjustments to ensure the prescribers attending it will receive the latest information available. Now, we’ve added an online, OnDemand track that makes it even easier for prescribers to get the latest education available. With any luck, Alabama’s death numbers due to prescription drugs will continue to drop. Our efforts are definitely paying off in a big, big way.”

Visit the OnDemand Education Center at www.alamedical.org/onlinecme.