Drugs/Therapy

Prescription Drugs May Lead To Fatal Overdose

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Feb 22, 2016 10:01 AM EST

Worryingly, more people seem to be dying from the misuse of drugs like Valium, Ativan, Klonopin and Xanax, according to CBS News. These are sedatives that belong to the benzodiazepine class and are impacting society with above 30 percent of the 23,000 prescription drug overdoses in the U.S. having taken place in 2013.

"In 2013, more than 5 percent of American adults filled prescriptions for benzodiazepines... As more benzodiazepines were prescribed, more people have died from overdoses involving these drugs," said Dr. Joanna Starrels, an author of the new study. "And the overdose death rate increased more than four times from 1996 to 2013."

They not only slow breathing, but, in a blend with other drugs or alcohol, they can even be "deadly".

The study has been published by the American Journal of Public Health.

Although experts are not too clear on why the overdose is happening, many believe that the need for the prescriptions has gone up, while others feel that benzodiazepines are prescribed as a common practice to treat a few symptoms, according to CNN.

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