30% Of Painkiller-Related Deaths Involved Methadone

In 2009, there were 15,597 deaths attributed to prescription painkillers in the United States; of those, methadone was involved in 30% of cases (a total of 4,679 deaths). Overall in 2009, drug overdoses were responsible for a total of 37,004 deaths. Between 1999 and 2009, the mortality rate involving methadone increased nearly six-fold, from less than 0.5 per 100,0000 (790 deaths) in 1999 to about 1.5 per 100,000 in 2009 (about 5,000 deaths). The mortality rate peaked at 1.8 deaths per 100,000 persons in 2007 and then declined . . .