80% increase in ER visits in Pennsylvania because of overdoses, CDC finds

Data from the Centers for Disease Control shows emergency room admissions for opioid overdoses increased 30 percent nationwide.

The change in Pennsylvania is even more dramatic with an 80 percent increase. That increase comes just in one year from 2016 to 2017.

Only two states in the country saw a more dramatic rise.

The numbers also show this is no longer a problem concentrated in more rural communities. The biggest increases this year were in urban areas.

TRENDING NOW:

• Train hauling diesel fuel slams into truck carrying hydrochloric acid
• PHOTOS: Truck carrying hydrochloric acid involved in crash with train
• Sources: Steelers place franchise tag on Bell ahead of Tuesday deadline
• VIDEO: Dogs Get Cozy After Chairs Donated to Shelter

In the two-year spending agreement Congress is finalizing this month, an extra $6 billion has been budgeted to battle this opioid crisis.

"This has reached a level that we can no longer think spending money is going to fix it. It's going to take a comprehensive program to fix it,” said Pennsylvania Rep. Republican Mike Kelly.

"I think we have to mobilize in the same way we do against deadly infectious diseases,” said CEO of Trust for America’s Health John Auerbach.

CDC officials say emergency rooms can be a critical point of contact to try to keep people in recovery after an overdose.

But the data also shows that one third of the overdose patients who end up at the ER die from that overdose.

Cox Media Group