Addiction leads to tragic ends by The Star-Advertiser

Dan Galanis, epidemiologist for the Department of Health’s Injury Prevention and Control Section discusses drug overdose deaths among Hawaii’s residents with The Star-Advertiser.

“In the five-year period through 2013, the number of fatalities for residents 60 and older totaled 132, a 288 percent increase from the five-year period through 2003, according to data from the Department of Health’s Injury Prevention and Control Program. The fatalities included deaths from prescription and illicit drugs.

For that 15-year period, Dan Galanis, epidemiologist for the injury prevention program, analyzed about a half dozen different causes of death for residents 60 and older, including falls, drownings, motor vehicle accidents and suffocation.

Drug poisoning was the only one that increased substantially.”

Source: Addiction leads to tragic ends by Star-Advertiser

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 07, 2014

[facebook]