In the US today, prescription painkillers kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined.
According to a new report from Brandeis University, prescription painkillers — opioid or narcotic pain relievers like Vicodin (hydrocodone), OxyContin (oxycodone), Opana (oxymorphone), and methadone — are now responsible for more fatal overdoses in the U.S. than heroin and cocaine combined.