Study: Many 'Accidental' Opioid Deaths Actually Suicides
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A new study finds incidents of suicide through opioid overdose are more prevalent than what is reported in national statistics.
The study from the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles states that, while the suicide rate in the United States rose by nearly a quarter from 2000 to 2016, the rate of accidental opioid or drug-intoxication deaths increased by 312 percent.
The study's authors concluded the disparity in these rates is accounted for by the underreporting and misclassification of these types of suicides.
"Without psychological/psychiatric evidence contributing to manner of death classification, suicide by drug intoxication in the US is likely profoundly under-reported," the study claims.
The study, out Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE, also claims the overwhelming opioid epidemic across the nation has made surveillance and prevention of suicides more difficult.
Researchers used data from the Centers for Disease Control in the study.
(©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. City News Service contributed to this report.)