TODAY | BY A. PAWLOWSKI | 6.20.17
There’s a startling new snapshot of the nation’s opioid epidemic. In just a decade, the rate of people hospitalized because of pain relievers and heroin rose 64 percent, while the rate of opioid-related emergency room visits almost doubled, according to a report released Tuesday.
The findings are particularly troubling for women.
Hospitalizations surged 75 percent for women between 2005 and 2014, compared to 55 percent for men the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported. That means the rate of opioid-related hospital stays, which used to be rarer for women, is now about equal among the sexes nationwide — about 225 per 100,000 people.