Data Brief: An Assessment Of Opioid-Related Deaths In Massachusetts, 2013-2014

On September 15, 2016, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health published this assessment regarding an in-depth analysis of opioid-related deaths in the state during 2013 and 2014. Key findings of the analysis include:

Prescription drugs and illegally-obtained substances relate to overdose deaths,
Medication-assisted treatment reduces the risk of fatal opioid overdose,
Women are more likely to experience a fatal overdose due to prescription opioid use than men, and
Individuals who have recently been released from state prisons are 56 times more likely to die from an opioid-related overdose . . .