Utah Poisioning Death Rate Blows National Average Away

February 15th, 2010. By AbiK

Go figure. The Salt Lake Tribune reported today on Utah’s death rate from poisoning—and the figures were a bit startling. According to the Utah Department of Health, there are 21.3 deaths per 100,000 residents in Utah each year. That may not seem like too many until you compare it to the national average: 11 death per 100,000.

Why so high? Well, that’s the question I imagine a lot of folks in Utah are asking themselves right about now.

You’d think there might be a bit of insight from the Utah Poison Control Center—where exposures to hazardous substances are reported. According to the Poison Center, the most common culprits are analgesics, household cleaning products and cosmetics and personal care products. But doesn’t pretty much every household across America have a bottle or two of analgesics, some household cleaners and some personal care products?

The Poison Center also indicates that pesticides have become a more prevalent issue as well—and this particular issue just received a fair amount of media attention in Utah with the recent deaths of two young girls who had allegedly been exposed to fumes from rodent poison pellets that had seeped into their home. But there’s no indication that Utahns use pesticides any more than the rest of the country.

So perhaps the high death rate comes from some other factor—one that just might be gleaned from a statistic from the Utah state Health Department: between 1999 and 2007, the number of deaths attributed to prescription pain medications rose more than 500 percent. That’s a fairly significant increase—though the answers to the question of “why?” still remain a bit elusive.

The Tribune quotes the Utah chief medical examiner as saying that fatal overdoses from prescription drugs happen at nearly three times the rate of those from illicit drugs; and the latest US Health and Human Services survery apparently ranked Utah as fourth in the nation for non-medical use of pain relievers. Interesting statistics, but not necessarily answers to what’s really going on—or why?

According to the story in the Tribune, lawmakers in Utah are considering legislation this year to address this issue—but from my perspective, it sounds like there’s a need for some more understanding before big brother steps in with some new bills…

Tags: poisoning death, Utah

This was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Drugs/Medical . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.