Organisations are again calling for real-time prescription monitoring across the nation to combat the alarming figures. The Penington Institute has released Australia’s Annual Overdose Report 2016 and its findings reveal a significant rise in overdose deaths over the past decade.
A snapshot of the results shows that:
“These figures challenge the conventional wisdom that it is young urban people who are most at risk of dying of overdose in Australia,” says the institute’s CEO John Ryan.
“The report also indicates that more people die of an overdose of prescription medications such as oxycodone and benzodiazepines like Valium, than from illicit drugs.”
Source: ajp.com.au/news/prescription-overdose-deaths-continue-climb/, Viewed 2 September 2016