The investigation into actor Heath Ledger's death Monday as a possible drug overdose is bringing attention to a nationwide health crisis: Overdose fatalities have risen dramatically in the United States since 1999, largely because of prescription drugs.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, unintentional poisoning deaths -- 95% of which are drug overdoses -- increased from 12,186 in 1999 to 20,950 in 2004.
And during that time, prescription drugs overtook cocaine and heroin combined as the leading cause of lethal overdoses, said Dr. Len Paulozzi, a CDC injury prevention expert.
Overdose deaths have been increasing since the early 1990s. But the recent rise has been so dramatic that it is driving the first sustained increase in 25 years in the nation's overall injury death rate, Paulozzi wrote in a study published last month.
Drug treatment experts say they doubt that most people realize the seriousness of the problem.
Because prescription drugs aren't street drugs, people think they don't have the same risk, said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Walters unveiled an advertising campaign Thursday to target prescription drug abuse by teenagers. The first television ad will be broadcast Feb. 3 during the Super Bowl.
The campaign was originally scheduled to be announced Wednesday, but, not wanting to appear opportunistic, the agency postponed the announcement by a day after Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment.
Sleeping pills and other prescription drugs, including antidepressants, were found in Ledger's apartment, accord- ing to a police spokesman. An autopsy was inconclusive and toxicology tests are pending.
The great majority of overdose deaths are due to opioid painkillers, including oxycodone, fentanyl and methadone (in pill form rather than the liquid dispensed for recovering heroin addicts), which control pain but also reduce respiratory function. Too high a dose, when not increased gradually under careful supervision, can shut down breathing.
However, unintentional poisoning deaths involving other psychotherapeutic drugs, including sleeping pills, antidepressants and tranquilizers, grew 84% from 1999 to 2004, according to the CDC study.
Headline-grabbing overdose deaths like that of Anna Nicole Smith are the tip of the iceberg, experts say.
