The Journal Gazette
The Journal Gazette
By the time police were called to the Roanoke home, it wasn't clear how long the woman had gone without breathing.

Two men at the house said they found her lying unconscious on the floor that afternoon and dialed 911.

Annette Veach was 39 years old, and investigators believe she spent her last hours the night of Nov. 24 and the morning of Nov. 25 ingesting prescription drugs and drinking.

High levels of morphine caused her death, the Huntington County coroner later ruled, but Veach also had oxycodone and oxymorphone in her system.

For the past several years, it has been no secret that deaths caused by overdoses on prescription drugs, just like the one involving Annette Veach, have been on the rise.

But a new study shows just how much the problem has spiked throughout the country, especially among Hoosiers.

Since 1999, the number of deaths caused by overdoses – the majority of which has involved prescription drugs, outnumbering those caused by heroin and cocaine combined – has quadrupled in Indiana, according to the Trust for America's Health.

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