By Ethan A. Huff, contributing writer to Natural News
Prescription painkiller drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin are now directly responsible for killing 40 Americans every single day. This disturbing fact comes from new data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of an ongoing investigation into prescription drug abuse.
The numbers from the CDC report show that more people are now killed by opioid prescription drugs than they are by overdoses from both heroin and cocaine combined. These numbers match ones released as part of 2009 study conducted by physicians at St. Michael’s Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto, Canada, which essentially found the same thing.
Since 1999, the number of individuals who take prescription painkillers to get high rather than to legitimately treat pain has tripled.
