For the first clock time , inadvertent expiry have become the third - leading cause of fatality . A record 161,375 lives were unintentionally lose in 2016 .

Defined as unintentional or preventable , the number of inadvertent demise go up importantly in 2016 , a trend the National Safety Council say is fueled by the steep wage increase in opioid overdoses .

Unintentional opioid deaths have by prescription pain relievers , diacetylmorphine , and illegitimately - made fentanyl reached arecord 37,814 deaths . Of those , an approximate 22,000 people die every year from prescription - opioids alone . That ’s one every24 minutes .

According to the study , Ohio had the most opioid deaths ( 3,495 ) , followed by New York ( 2,752 ) , and Florida ( 2,622 ) . death hit a acme for those in their thirty and in their 50s .

But valuate destruction due to drug overdose can be foxy , says theCenters for Disease Control .   In around 1 in 5 drug overdose deaths , no specific drug is listed on the demise certification .

It ’s a crisis drawingnational attention .

Last dusk the Trump Administration declared the opioid crisis apublic health pinch . However , funding for new addiction treatment program and enquiry has not been allocated .

Last week , the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) tightened restrictions on cough sirup , banning opioidsin cough medicine for children under the years of 18 .

On Wednesday , Walmart announced it will become the first internal drug chain of mountains to offerfree disposalof unused opioid prescriptions .

Despite recent efforts , opioid overdoses are a part of an on-going , disabling epidemic .

In its2017 National Drug Threat Assessment , the US Drug Enforcement Agency state the drug landscape painting in the US has shift over the last ten and is “ reaching epidemic degree ” .

Since 1999 , the amount of prescription drugs prescribed and sold has quadrupled , says theDepartment of Health and Human Services .   About 44 people pall every sidereal day from a prescribed - opioid overdose . Of those , 18 women will die of a ethical drug drug overdose .

Overall , preventable decease have been increase since 2009 and are third only to heart disease and cancer , severally .

According to the 2016 analysis , almost 15,000more people died accidentally in 2016 than in 2015 . It ’s the largest single - year pct rise since 1936 .

virtually all categories of accidental death have increased . Poisoning deaths   – which let in drug overdose   – account for 58,335 full deaths , an increase of 22.9 percent . Motor vehicle accidents move up 6.8 percentage for a aggregate of 40,327 . Drowning ( 5.1 percentage ) and fire - related ( 3.2 percentage ) deaths also increased for total combined 6,516 dying . go was the only accidental death to decrease by 4.4 pct to just under 5,000 deaths annually .

In ayear - long projectevaluating the actions and policies US states take to cut back inadvertent deaths for resident , no state received an A. As such ,   an American is accidentally wound every 2nd and killed every three minutes by apreventable event .