The Center for Disease Control, after reviewing death certificates from 1999 to 2004, has determined that accidental overdose is now the nation's leading cause of accidental death. They attribute the rise, in part, to an increase in prescriptions for drugs like oxycontin and vicodin.

"'The broadest newest development in substance abuse in America is the intentional abuse of medicine,' said Stephen Pasierb of the Partnership for a Drub Free America. 'It's gone from subset to a whole tier of abuse.'"

This new tier of substance abuse is more common than the use of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy, and is believed to have contributed to a 113% rise in teenage fatal drug overdoses. Read more at WSAW.com.

Labels: overdose, prescription drugs