Map Reveals US States With the Highest Rates of Deaths by Poisoning

A recent analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals the differences in the rates of death by poisoning across the United States, with West Virginia emerging as the state with the highest rate.
The study, conducted by Wisconsin-based personal injury law firm Gruber Law Offices, examined poisoning-related deaths from 2016 to 2020, revealing significant variations between states.
West Virginia reported 60 deaths per 100,000 residents due to poisoning, the highest rate in the country. This figure is a staggering 559 percent higher than Nebraska, the state with the lowest rate.
Synthetic narcotics were identified as the leading cause of poisoning in the Mountain State, followed by “psychostimulants with abuse potential.”
Ohio ranked second, with 41.4 deaths per 100,000 people, while Delaware placed third with 40.1 deaths per 100,000 residents.
“Exploring which states have the most deaths by poisoning can be interesting for several reasons and can reveal important social, economic, and health-related insights,” David Gruber of Gruber Law Offices said in a statement.
“It shows patterns in the types of substances being abused, whether it’s opioids, prescription medications, or other toxic substances, as well as assessing the effectiveness of different laws and regulations related to drug use and poison control.”
While Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota boast the lowest rates—ranging from 9.1 to 12.4 deaths per 100,000 people—states like West Virginia, Ohio and Delaware struggle with much higher figures.
The number of deaths per 100,000 residents was calculated by comparing each year’s data to the corresponding state population. These figures were then averaged to rank the states from highest to lowest in terms of poisoning death rates per 100,000 people.
Other killers contributing to figures in the most vulnerable states were cocaine, heroin and ‘other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances’, which can include topical agents for the skin, ophthalmological, otorhinolaryngological and dental drugs.
“I’ve said many times that we need to do everything in our power and be willing to use every tool in our toolbelt to combat the epidemic we continue to face against opioids,” West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said in a statement back in 2020.
Justice was at the time announcing a $6 million grant to help West Virginia combat addiction through target addiction through prevention, intervention and diversion.
This would add to the almost $150 million the state had received to address the opioid crisis up to December 2019, a testimony to the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations revealed.
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