Examining Fatal Opioid Overdoses in Marion County, Indiana

dc.contributor.authorRay, Bradley
dc.contributor.authorQuinet, Kenna
dc.contributor.authorDickinson, Timothy
dc.contributor.authorWatson, Dennis P.
dc.contributor.authorBallew, Alfarena
dc.contributor.departmentSchool of Public and Environmental Affairsen_US
dc.date.accessioned2017-06-24T20:23:10Z
dc.date.available2017-06-24T20:23:10Z
dc.date.issued2017-04-01
dc.description.abstractDrug-related overdoses are now the leading injury-related death in the USA, and many of these deaths are associated with illicit opioids and prescription opiate pain medication. This study uses multiple sources of data to examine accidental opioid overdoses across 6 years, 2010 through 2015, in Marion County, IN, an urban jurisdiction in the USA. The primary sources of data are toxicology reports from the county coroner, which reveal that during this period, the most commonly detected opioid substance was heroin. During the study period, 918 deaths involved heroin, and there were significant increases in accidental overdose deaths involving both heroin and fentanyl. In order to disentangle the nature and source of opioid overdose deaths, we also examine data from Indiana’s prescription drug monitoring program and the law enforcement forensic services agency. Results suggest that there have been decreases in the number of opiate prescriptions dispensed and increases in law enforcement detection of both heroin and fentanyl. Consistent with recent literature, we suggest that increased regulation of prescription opiates reduced the likelihood of overdoses from these substances, but might have also had an iatrogenic effect of increasing deaths from heroin and fentanyl. We discuss several policy implications and recommendations for Indiana.en_US
dc.eprint.versionAuthor's manuscripten_US
dc.identifier.citationRay, B., Quinet, K., Dickinson, T., Watson, D. P., & Ballew, A. (2017). Examining Fatal Opioid Overdoses in Marion County, Indiana. Journal of Urban Health, 94(2), 301–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0113-2en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1805/13165
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSpringeren_US
dc.relation.isversionof10.1007/s11524-016-0113-2en_US
dc.relation.journalJournal of Urban Healthen_US
dc.sourceAuthoren_US
dc.subjectOverdoseen_US
dc.subjectOpioidsen_US
dc.subjectPrescriptions opiatesen_US
dc.subjectCoroner recordsen_US
dc.subjectCrime laben_US
dc.titleExamining Fatal Opioid Overdoses in Marion County, Indianaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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