CDC grant helps study opioid overdoses

PROVIDENCE – Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support a study of opioid overdoses, the leading cause of accidental death among adults.
The study will evaluate the effectiveness of statewide prescription-monitoring programs in Rhode Island and Connecticut in reducing deaths from accidental overdoses of drugs such as OxyContin and Vicodin. It will also involve community outreach to help develop locally relevant recommendations to address the problem.
Overdoses now kill more Rhode Islanders than motor vehicle accidents – an average of nearly two per week – and nationally, prescription drug overdoses kill more people than all illegal drugs combined. &#8226