Fatalities from heroin and black-market synthetic opioids skyrocketed while the nation saw a decline in the number of opioid painkiller prescriptions and the overdose deaths attributed to them, according to a study.
The research from the American Action Forum shows that as authorities cracked down on the overprescribing of powerful painkillers, international cartels filled the void with cheap heroin and powerful synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
The number of opioids prescribed nationwide sharply dropped in 2010, as did the death rate from prescription-opioid overdoses. The annual growth rate of deaths involving prescription opioids slowed from 13.4 percent before 2010 to 4.8 percent after. This came after authorities went after pill mills and rogue doctors, states began implementing prescription drug monitoring programs and Purdue Pharma released a reformulated version of the painkiller OxyContin that was more difficult to crush and thus more difficult to abuse, though some users found ways around it.
