Opioid Crisis Drives Up Illinois ER Visits by 66 Percent

According to a new report, the opioid crisis in Illinois has driven up emergency room visits by 66 percent.

A report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that opioid-related emergency room visits rose an average of 35 percent across 16 states between July of 2016 to September of 2017. The highest rise was seen in and around metropolitan areas, according to the Pekin Times.

Increases grew more in large urban centers, such as Chicago, where dealers have taken to cutting heroin with the highly dangerous drug fentanyl, the report said. The report did note that the statistics might be skewed because the study only looked into the hospital visits in 16 states. Still, the numbers are shocking.

While Illinois saw a hefty 66 percent increase, states around Illinois also saw the ratio jumped. Visits in Indiana rose by 35 percent, 28 percent in Ohio, and 21 percent in Missouri. But Wisconsin saw an incredible 109 percent jump in ER visits.

The study also found that opioid overdose rates rose 70 percent across the Midwest.

But, the soaring numbers were worse on the east coast where emergency room visits rose by 105 percent.

Emergency room visits grew by 81 percent in Pennsylvania and 105 percent in Delaware, but numbers actually fell in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Kentucky also saw a decrease, with the number of visits falling by 15 percent.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.