According to a recent study published by researchers from the West Virginia University School of Public Health and Injury Control Research Center, suicide has now surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of injury death in the United States. By 2009, the suicide mortality rate was 15 per cent higher than it was in 2000.
A related — and equally disturbing statistic — indicates that the number of accidental poisonings rose by 128 per cent. According to Ian Rockett, lead author of the study: “Unintentional poisoning has risen to third among the leading causes of injury mortality, a change that appears mainly driven by the enormous increase in the rate of fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers.”
There is a silver lining in all of this injury data. Although motor vehicle accidents were still the second leading cause of injury death, the number of deaths decreased by 25 per cent. Rockett believes that this is due to the amount of “attention and resources” devoted to traffic safety. Similar efforts will be needed to combat other forms of injury death.
Source: Science Daily
