The overall rate of deaths from drugs — including heroin, cocaine, and prescription opioids — is approaching the number of deaths from car crashes each year.

In 2007, there were 28,000 deaths from prescription drug overdoses.

Those deaths were driven largely by the abuse of prescription painkillers.

Prescription painkiller abuse now matches abuse of illegal drugs, and mortality from the prescription drugs exceeds overdose deaths from cocaine and heroin combined

“We are in the midst of a public health crisis driven by prescription drug abuses,”

“In 2007, there were 28,000 deaths from prescription drug overdoses — five times the number in 1990, Kerlikowske said. Those deaths were driven largely by the abuse of prescription painkillers.”

Are you being prescribed the wrong medication ?

Getting the wrong medication and medical negligence can be the result of many factors.

Being prescribed the wrong medication altogether, or receiving an improper dosage of the correct medication is only a part of the problem.

That being said consumers should definitely check the labels of prescription bottles before they leave the store.

“In 2006, the Institute of Medicine issued a report citing medication mistakes as the most common medical errors, resulting in an estimated $3.5 billion in added costs for lost wages, productivity and additional health care expenses.”

“In 2008, 1.9 million people became ill or injured from medication side effects or because they took or were given the wrong type or dose of medication, compared with 1.2 million injured in 2004”