CDC Report Highlights Opioid Prescription Disparities; West Virginia Faces Outsized Impact

Why it matters locally: The CDC report on opioid prescription disparities directly impacts West Virginia residents, businesses, and the government due to the state's historically high rates of opioid-related issues. In 2012, when the data was collected, West Virginia already struggled significantly with opioid addiction and overdose deaths were rapidly increasing. A national focus on prescription rates and associated risks immediately draws attention to a problem that has brought wide harm to the state.

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Atlanta — A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, titled "Vital Signs,” released data revealing significant variations in opioid painkiller prescriptions across different states in 2012. The report emphasizes the potential risks associated with opioid use, specifically the danger of overdose. The report indicates that healthcare providers nationwide wrote approximately 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers in 2012. However, prescription rates differed substantially from state to state. The CDC's “Vital Signs” report aims to provide data and information on critical health issues. This particular report focused on prescription opioid use and its potential implications.