Report Shows More Hoosiers Dying From Drug Overdoses Than Car Crashes

BLOOMINGTON -- More people are dying from drug overdoses than motor vehicle accidents in Indiana. That’s according to a new report from the Trust of America’s Health. 

The report measures fatal injury rates and ranks Indiana 15th in the nation for its rate of overdose deaths. Sixteen people per 100,000 people in Indiana died from an overdose between 2011 and 2013.

Jessica Skiba is an epidemiologist for Indiana State Department of Health. She says the prescription drug epidemic that has been caused, in part, by the inappropriate prescribing of opioids for chronic pain.

"A lot of times we’ll hear anecdotally, ‘I had surgery and I received a prescription for some opiate and just kept taking them as prescribed by my doctor and then later became addicted to the painkillers," she said.

Skiba says efforts are underway to measure the number of opioids prescribed and filled in the state so the state health department can track trends and identify inappropriate prescriptions or when people obtain prescriptions from multiple doctors.