Reports suggest upturn in hospital ED visits due to drug-related suicide attempts.
The CBS News (8/7, Blaszczak-Boxe) website reported that according to two reports released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “there has been a significant rise in drug-related suicide attempts in the past few years, with the most alarming increase among middle-aged people.” The reports found that “hospital emergency department visits involving drug-related suicide attempts in people ages 45 to 64 doubled between 2005 and 2011 – rising from 28,802 cases in 2005 to 58,775 in 2011.” In fact, there was an overall “51 percent increase in suicide-related visits to emergency departments among people age 12 and older – from 151,477 visits in 2005 to 228,277 visits in 2011,” the reports found.
HealthDay (8/8, Reinberg) quotes Peter Delany, PhD, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, who said, “We probably are seeing an increase in overall suicide attempts, and along with that we are also seeing an increase in drug-related suicide attempts.” He added, “People have access to medications, and they are using both prescription and over-the-counter meds.”
Medscape (8/8) also covers the story.
You won’t see these stats out there being sensationalized by the media and the CDC… these increase in suicides is before the major crack down by the DEA on prescribers and pharmacists.. we are now nine years later.. wonder if we will see undated numbers ?
Filed under: General Problems
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