To compile the report, the National Safety Council analyzed 2017 data on accidental or preventable deaths in the U.S.
The likelihood of an American dying from an opioid overdose is 1 in 96, while the chance of dying in a car crash is 1 in 103. The most common causes of death are heart disease (1 in 6 chance) and cancer (1 in 7).
“The nation’s opioid crisis is fueling the Council’s grim probabilities, and that crisis is worsening with an influx of illicit fentanyl,” the council said in a Jan. 14 statement cited by NPR.
More articles on opioids:
Opioid epidemic pushes Starbucks to install needle-disposal boxes in bathrooms
Viewpoint: Hospital-based physicians must share what they know to end opioid crisis
6 ways UC San Diego Health is fighting the opioid epidemic
