A recent national report reveals that drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States, at nearly 44,000 per year. These deaths have more than doubled in the past 14 years, and half of them are related to prescription drugs.

“The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report,” was issued by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is now available online. Corinne Peek-Asa, UI College of Public Health associate dean for research and professor of occupational and environmental health, helped peer review the report and assisted in its public release in June.

The following infographic presents several key findings and recommendations from “The Facts Hurt” report, as well as some Iowa-specific data from the Iowa Department of Public Health. (Printable versions of the graphic are available here in an 8.5 x 11, three-page PDF or in a single-page JPEG version.)