Data released this week shows that there has been a five-fold increase over the last decade in the number of women dying in the US because of a painkiller overdose.

The US public health protection body, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says that between 1999 and 2010 there was a five-times increase in women dying from prescription painkiller overdoses, with a total of 48,000 deaths over the decade.

The CDC report, Vital Signs, shows that in each of the three years 1999, 2000 and 2001, there were fewer than 2,000 deaths from opioid overdose in women. In the second half of the decade though, these figures rose steeply. Painkiller deaths even greatly outnumbered overdoses from illegal drugs.

Over 5,000 opioid-misuse deaths happened among US women every single year between 2006 and 2010.

“Prescription painkiller deaths have skyrocketed in women – four times as many as died from cocaine and heroin combined,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden. “Stopping this epidemic in women – and men – is everyone’s business. Doctors need to be cautious about prescribing, and patients about using, these drugs.”

Overdose Deaths Graph
How opioid deaths shot up in US women versus other drugs. Source: CDC

The rise in female painkiller deaths was much higher than it was for males, the CDC reports; although men, when they do have a prescription painkiller overdose, are more likely to die of it.

Other statistics put out by the CDC add more perspective to the scale of the rising problem in women:

  • Since 2007, more women have died from general drug overdoses than from motor vehicle crashes
  • Overall drug overdose suicide deaths accounted for 34% of all suicides among women, compared with 8% among men in 2010
  • An average of 18 women every day died from a prescription painkiller overdose in 2010.
  • In 2010, there were more than 200,000 emergency department visits for opioid misuse among women – about one every three minutes.

The Vital Signs update offers a research-based explanation for the higher effect in women than men. It says: “Women are more likely to have chronic pain, be prescribed prescription painkillers, be given higher doses, and use them for longer time periods than men.”

The CDC has also looked at research showing women may become dependent on prescription painkillers more quickly than men and may engage in more “doctor shopping” – going to various prescribers for their drugs.

The body concludes that there are steps women can take to help avoid accidental or deliberate prescription painkiller overdose:

  • Using prescription drugs only as directed
  • Discussing all medications with a healthcare provider, including over-the-counter ones
  • Discussing pregnancy plans with their healthcare provider before taking prescription painkillers
  • Disposing of drugs properly – as soon as the course of treatment is done – and not holding onto them “just in case”
  • Helping prevent misuse by not selling or sharing prescription drugs and by never using another person’s prescription.