CDC - Drug Overdose - Home and Recreational Safety - Injury Center

CDC - Drug Overdose - Home and Recreational Safety - Injury Center

More than a third of reproductive-aged women enrolled in Medicaid, and more than a quarter of those with private insurance, filled a prescription for an opioid pain medication each year during 2008-2012, according to a CDC report in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Opioids are typically prescribed by health care providers to treat moderate to severe pain. The most commonly prescribed opioids among both groups of women in the report were hydrocodone, codeine and oxycodone.

Why this is important

Taking these medications early in pregnancy can increase the risk for some birth defects (such as spina bifida) and other poor pregnancy outcomes (such as preterm birth or low birth weight). Women who use prescription opioids also have an increased risk of death from an overdose.

Women who are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, should discuss with their health care professional the risks and benefits for any medication they are taking or considering.

Read the Report from CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)

• Opioid Prescription Claims Among Women of Reproductive Age — United States, 2008–2012 

Get more information on medication use during pregnancy

• CDC's Treating for Two Initiative
• Medication and Pregnancy

Learn more:

• Prescription Drug Overdose in the United States

Prescription Drug Overdose

Deaths from drug overdose have been rising steadily over the past two decades and have become the leading cause of injury death in the United States.1  Every day in the United States, 120 people die as a result of drug overdose1, and another 6,748 are treated in emergency departments (ED) for the misuse or abuse of drugs.2Nearly 9 out of 10 poisoning deaths are caused by drugs.1

Get the Facts

In the Spotlight

Opioid Painkiller Prescribing - Where You Live Makes a Difference

Related Resources

CDC Vital Signs

• Opioid Painkiller Prescribing - Where You Live Makes a Difference
• Prescription Painkiller Overdoses - A Growing Epidemic, Especially Among Women
• Use and Abuse of Methadone as a Painkiller
• Prescription Painkiller Overdoses in the US

Additional Resources

• Addressing Prescription Drug Abuse in the United States, Current Activities and Future Opportunities
• Policy Impact: Prescription Painkiller Overdoses
• State Prescription Drug Laws
• CDC Public Health Grand Rounds: "Prescription Drug Overdoses: An American Epidemic"

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Vital Statistics System mortality data. (2015) Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/deaths.htm.
2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Highlights of the 2011 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) findings on drug-related emergency department visits. The DAWN Report. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; 2013. Available from URL: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k13/DAWN127/sr127-DAWN-highlights.htm
3. Paulozzi LJ. Prescription drug overdoses: a review. Journal of Safety Research, 2012;http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2012.08.009