Many U.S. Residents Know Someone With Rx Drug-Related Substance Use Disorder

About 40% of U.S. residents say they know someone who had a substance use disorder related to prescription painkillers, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Tuesday. Of the nearly 40% of respondents who said they know someone with a prescription painkiller-related substance use disorder, 15% said a family member had the condition and 10% said a close friend had the condition. Further, 16% of respondents said they know someone who had died of a prescription painkiller overdose.

• "Four in 10 Say They Know Someone Who Has Been Addicted to Prescription Painkillers" (Bernstein, "To Your Health," Washington Post, 11/24).