Officials are putting strict new limits on how many painkillers doctors in Ohio are allowed to prescribe after a report released Wednesday shows overdose deaths spiked again in 2016.
Data released by the Ohio Department of Health Wednesday shows opioid overdose deaths increased last year over the record breaking numbers seen in 2015. Roughly 11 people die each day in the state from accidental overdoses, with the majority of deaths connected to heroin and fentanyl combinations, reports FOX 45 Now.
Deaths from drug overdoses increased by exactly 1,000 over 2015, totaling 4,050. In response, Republican Gov. John Kasich announced he is placing new restrictions on opioids, limiting prescriptions to a seven-day supply for adults and a five-day supply for minors.
“When you’re dispensing this stuff, in some aspects its like walking around with a loaded gun,” Kasich said at a press conference Wednesday, according to FOX 45 Now. “You have a responsibility to do this the right way.”
Addiction advocates in the state say the measure does not go far enough to address the crisis, particularly at a time when the majority of deaths are linked to illicit substances. Deaths from prescription painkillers actually declined by 15 percent in 2016 from the previous year in Ohio.
Fentanyl, a painkiller roughly 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, is the driving force behind drug deaths in the state, claiming 3,800 lives in 2016. The prevalence of fentanyl also caused a large spike in cocaine fatalities, which rose by 62 percent in 2016, killing 1,109 people.
Drug overdoses are now the number one cause of accidental death for Americans under 50. The New York Times recently culled through data from state health departments and county medical examiners and coroners, predicting there were between 59,000 and 65,000 drug deaths in 2016.
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