Pittsburgh In Epicenter Of Opioid Epidemic

PITTSBURGH, PA - The tri-state area continues to be the Ground Zero of the opioid epidemic, with West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania having the highest overdose death rates in 2017.

Overdose deaths reached a new high nationally, topping 70,000, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Report revealed Thursday. West Virginia (57.8 overdose deaths per 100,000), Ohio (46.3), Pennsylvania (44.3) had the highest age-adjusted drug overdose death rates in 2017.

Combined with a 3.7 percent rise in the national suicide rate, the rising overdose statistics triggered a decline in U.S. life expectancy. The CDC says a person born in this country in 2017 can expect to live 78.6 years, an 0.1 decrease from 2016.

“These sobering statistics are a wakeup call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable,” CDC director Robert Redfield said in a statement. “We must all work together to reverse this trend and help ensure that all Americans live longer and healthier lives.”

Overdose rates have been much higher for men than women in recent years, increasing from about 8 male overdose deaths per 100,000 in 1999 to about 29 per 100,000 last year. Among females, the rate increased from about 4 overdose deaths per 100,000 in 1999 to about 14 per 100,000 in 2017.

The highest rates of drug overdose deaths last year occurred in adults between the ages of 25 and 54. The 25-to-34 group had nearly 38 overdose deaths per 100,000, the 35-to-44 group had 39 per 100,000, and the 45-to-54 group had about 38 per 100,000.

Photo via Getty Images. Map via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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