Berkeley Lovelace Jr.@BERKELEYJR
KEY POINTS
- The nationwide opioid epidemic has led to a sharp increase in the death rate for overdoses by teens and young adults, according to a new study.
- Most of those deaths were from the use of opioids, both prescription and illicit, such as heroin, the researchers say.
HEALTH AND SCIENCEMore millennials, Gen Z are dying of opioid overdoses, researchers sayPUBLISHED THU, APR 25 2019 • 12:15 AM EDT UPDATED THU, APR 25 2019 • 10:49 AM EDT
Berkeley Lovelace Jr.@BERKELEYJR
KEY POINTS
- The nationwide opioid epidemic has led to a sharp increase in the death rate for overdoses by teens and young adults, according to a new study.
- Most of those deaths were from the use of opioids, both prescription and illicit, such as heroin, the researchers say.
Attorney General Maura Healey hugs Paula Haddad, whose son Jordan died from opioids at the age of 26, as Healey entered the courthouse at Suffolk Superior Court in Boston for a status update on the Attorney General’s suit against Purdue Pharma on Jan. 25, 2019.
Suzanne Kreiter | Boston Globe | Getty ImagesThe nationwide opioid epidemic has led to a sharp increase in the death rate for overdoses by teens and young adults, according to a study published Thursday.
Death rates from drug overdoses for people ages 15 to 24 rose by 19.75% from 2006 to 2015, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Researchers at the nonprofit Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland reviewed millennial and Gen Z mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
During the study period, 36,422 adolescents and young adults in the United States died of drug poisoning.
Most of the deaths from drug overdoses were from opioids, prescription and illicit drugs like heroin, the researchers said. Death rates from opioid use rose by an average of 4.8% annually over the same time period, with an even steeper increase of 15.4% a year between 2013 and 2015.
TO CONTINUE READING: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/24/more-millennials-gen-z-are-dying-of-opioid-overdoses-researchers-say.html