Indiana drug overdose rate doubles in last decade, CDC reports

More Hoosiers died of overdoses than from firearms (846) and homicide (389) combined. The figures are based on age-adjusted death rates obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER data base. The center also released information on other causes of death.

Drug overdoses in 2015 killed 1,245 Hoosiers, a rate of 19.5 deaths for every 100,000 people, the NCHS said. Indiana’s death rate was 34th in the nation. In only 19 other states did overdoses kill more than 1,000 people.

In 2014 Indiana recorded 1,172 fatal overdoses. Ten years ago, 610 Hoosiers died of drug overdoses, for a rate of 9.8

Boone County’s 2015 OD death rate was between 10 and 12, the CDC said. Last year at least 18 county residents fatally overdosed; more may have died because of drugs, but Indiana’s mortality reporting system tallies deaths by the county in which they occur.

Boone County Health Department Administrator Cindy Murphy, RN, said she had reviewed the CDC data.

“I’m hopeful that Indiana is on the right track to better capture the data related to overdoses and deaths related to overdoses,” she said. Health department staff was trained this week by the Indiana State Department of Health in the use of an electronic surveillance system that captures local data, she said.

“I believe this will assist us in our overall surveillance efforts,” Murphy said.

The CDC said that heart disease was Indiana’s leading cause of death in 2015, with just less than 14,000 Hoosiers succumbing. Cancer (13,511), chronic lower respiratory disease (4,212), accidents (3,258) and stroke (2,959,) were the other five leading causes of death.

Heart disease deaths fell from 2005, when 14,542 Hoosiers succumbed. Cancer deaths rose from 12,796 a decade ago.

Indiana’s 55.7 death rate from chronic lower respiratory diseases was the nation’s eighth-highest in 2015, when the state also ranked 12th for the number of deaths, at 4,212.