More than 645,000 people have died from opioid-related overdoses between 1999 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional data shows just under 80,000 people died in 2022 alone.
Opioid prescriptions have decreased dramatically over the past decade as physicians and public health officials learned about the dangers of OxyContin and other opioids prescribed for pain management. In 2020, the most recent year with data available, the top dispensing counties in Tennessee include:
#36. Bledsoe County, TN
– Opioid dispensing rate: 57.5 per 100 people
#10. Hamilton County, TN
– Opioid dispensing rate: 101.1 per 100 people
#1. Madison County, TN
– Opioid dispensing rate: 145.1 per 100 people
