New Report Reveals Treatment Admissions for Prescription Pain Killers Are on the Rise

Largest Share of Treatment Admissions Is Still for Alcohol Abuse, but Has Significantly Decreased Over the Past Decade

Treatment admissions for prescription pain killer misuse has risen dramatically over the past decade-from constituting 1 percent of all admissions in 1997 to now representing 5 percent, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) 2007 Highlights report also indicates that although alcohol-related admissions still account for the largest share (40 percent) of the 1.8 million treatment admissions occurring throughout the country during 2007, this reflects a reduction from 50 percent in 1997.

The TEDS 2007 Highlights report is the latest in a series of yearly reports, developed by SAMHSA, providing demographic and other information on substance abuse treatment admissions from state-licensed treatment facilities (most of them publicly funded) across the country. Although it does not include information on all treatment admissions, it is the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind and provides a vast array of specialized data on the characteristics of substance abuse treatment in the United States.

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