RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
More than 1,700 drug-induced deaths among Australians in 2017
There were 1,795 drug-induced deaths among Australians in 2017, according to preliminary estimates released by Drug Trends.
Analyses showed that most of these deaths were accidental and opioids were the main drug cited (1,171 deaths), with most of these deaths attributed to pharmaceutical opioids.
The rate of deaths involving opioids has increased over the past decade. There have also been increasing rates of drug-induced deaths involving other medicines.
