Prescription Opioid Overdose Death Maps
In 2020, an average of 44 people died each day from overdoses involving prescription opioids, totaling more than 16,000 deaths.1 Prescription opioids were involved in nearly 18% of all opioid overdose deaths in 2020, with over a 16% increase in prescription opioid-involved death rates from 2019 to 2020.
Calculating Prescription Opioid Overdose Deaths
When looking at overdose deaths from prescription opioids, CDC analyzes the following:
- Natural opioids: Pain medications like morphine and codeine
- Semi-synthetic opioids: Pain medications like oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone
- Methadone: A synthetic opioid used to treat pain, but it can also be provided through opioid treatment programs to treat opioid use disorders
Current information reported about overdose deaths does not distinguish pharmaceutical fentanyl from illegally made fentanyl. In order to account for increases in illicitly manufactured fentanyl, CDC Injury Center separates synthetic opioids (other than methadone) from prescription opioid death calculations.
2019-2020
See data table for Changes in drug overdose death rates involving prescription opioids by select states, United States, 2019 to 2020
2018-2019
See data table for Changes in drug overdose death rates involving prescription opioids by select states, United States, 2018 to 2019
2017-2018
See data table for Changes in drug overdose death rates involving prescription opioids by select states, United States, 2017 to 2018
2016-2017
See data table for Changes in drug overdose death rates involving prescription opioids by select states, United States, 2016 to 2017
References
- Wide-ranging online data for epidemiologic research (WONDER). Atlanta, GA: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2021. Available at http://wonder.cdc.gov.
