The Wolf Administration is increasing access to treatment for people suffering with opioid use disorder. This tells the story of treatment within the state of Pennsylvania.

Governor's Goal that more Pennsylvanians should have access to primary and preventative care, be able to see a doctor when they are sick, and avoid costly trips to the emergency room. Increased health care access leads to better health outcomes, which are essential to a productive workforce and a thriving economy. When more Pennsylvanians have access to preventative health services, state-supported health care costs go down.

Governor's Goal - The opioid crisis is a public health emergency in Pennsylvania that is contributing to addiction, overdose emergencies, and deaths. The crisis is unprejudiced in its reach and devastation, impacting all areas of the state – including urban, suburban, and rural communities – and Pennsylvanians of all ages. However, Pennsylvania's experience shows that, with a proactive response, it is possible to prevent substance use disorders, increase access to treatment, and rescue those in dire need.

This dataset contains aggregate death data at the state and county level for Pennsylvania residents. The data are displayed by year, race/ethnicity, gender, age group and cause of death.

This page describes information on the impacts of opioids on families and children.

This page is part of the community impacts section and describes impacts on the economic cost of the opioid crisis by estimating lost wages.

Estimated Accidental and Undetermined Drug Overdose Deaths 2012-2018 and provisional estimates of annual counts of deaths for 2019 generated from preliminary 2019 mortality data as of July 2020.
NOTE: Finalized death certificates for overdose deaths are often delayed by 3-6 months. Counties labeled “no value” have data suppressed due to counts between 1 and 9.
Dataset includes overdose deaths where the Manner of Death is Accidental or Undetermined.
Overdose Deaths are classified using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD–10). Accidental and Undetermined drug overdose deaths are identified using underlying cause-of-death codes X40–X44, and Y10–Y14, and include
- R99 when the Injury Description indicates an overdose death.
- X49 when literal COD is Mixed or Combined or Multiple Substance Toxicity, as these are likely drug overdoses
- X47 when substance indicated is difluoroethane, alone or in combination with other drugs
Source Pennsylvania Prescription Drug Monitoring Program *
* These data were supplied by the Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries specifically disclaims responsibility for any analyses, interpretations or conclusions.
- Estimates are broken down by type of drugs involved in the overdose
- Any Drug Overdose Death - all drug overdose deaths, regardless of type of drug involved, excluding alcohol only deaths
- Opioid Overdose Death - any overdose death involving opioids, prescription or illegal

View quarterly trends in Risky Prescribing Measures, including:
o Number/Rate of Individuals Seeing 5+ Prescribers and 5+ Dispensers: Number of individuals who received prescriptions from 5 or more prescribers AND 5 or more dispensers for any Schedule II-V substance in a 3-month period. This measure is also referred to as Multiple Provider Episodes. County rates are calculated based on the patient’s county of residence.
o Number/Rate of Individuals Seeing 4+ Prescribers and 4+ Dispensers: Number of individuals who received prescriptions from 5 or more prescribers AND 5 or more dispensers for any Schedule II-V substance in a 3-month period. This measure is also referred to as Multiple Provider Episodes. County rates are calculated based on the patient’s county of residence.
o Number/Rate of Individuals Seeing 3+ Prescribers and 3+ Dispensers: Number of individuals who received prescriptions from 5 or more prescribers AND 5 or more dispensers for any Schedule II-V substance in a 3-month period. This measure is also referred to as Multiple Provider Episodes. County rates are calculated based on the patient’s county of residence.
o Number/Rate of Individuals with an Average Daily MME >50, >90 or >120: Average Daily MME is calculated as the sum of the total MME on each day in a time period based on all prescriptions an individual has filled divided by the number of days in the prescription(s). Measures include the number and rate of individuals prescribed greater than 50 MME per day, greater than 90 MME per day, or greater than 120 MME per day and is based on the patient’s county of residence.
o Number/Rate of Individuals with Overlapping Opioid/Benzodiazepine Prescriptions: Number of individuals receiving overlapping opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions during a given quarter. This measure is based on the patients’ county of residence.
o Number/Rate of Individuals with > 30 Days of Overlapping Opioid/Benzodiazepine Prescriptions: Number and rate of individuals receiving overlapping opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions for 30 days or more during a given quarter using state/county populations as denominators. This measure is based on the patients’ county of residence.
Please see PDMP Data Technical Notes for additional details: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/programs/PDMP/Pages/Data.aspx

View quarterly trends in opioid dispensation data for all Schedule II-V opioids.
Please see PDMP Data Technical Notes for additional details: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/programs/PDMP/Pages/Data.aspx
More information from U.S. Department of Justice
https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/schedules/
Schedule I Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.
Some examples of substances listed in Schedule I are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), peyote, methaqualone, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ("Ecstasy").
Schedule II/IIN Controlled Substances (2/2N)
Substances in this schedule have a high potential for abuse which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
Examples of Schedule II narcotics include: hydromorphone (Dilaudid®), methadone (Dolophine®), meperidine (Demerol®), oxycodone (OxyContin®, Percocet®), and fentanyl (Sublimaze®, Duragesic®). Other Schedule II narcotics include: morphine, opium, codeine, and hydrocodone.
Examples of Schedule IIN stimulants include: amphetamine (Dexedrine®, Adderall®), methamphetamine (Desoxyn®), and methylphenidate (Ritalin®).
Other Schedule II substances include: amobarbital, glutethimide, and pentobarbital.
Schedule III/IIIN Controlled Substances (3/3N)
Substances in this schedule have a potential for abuse less than substances in Schedules I or II and abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.
Examples of Schedule III narcotics include: products containing not more than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit (Tylenol with Codeine®), and buprenorphine (Suboxone®).
Examples of Schedule IIIN non-narcotics include: benzphetamine (Didrex®), phendimetrazine, ketamine, and anabolic steroids such as Depo®-Testosterone.
Schedule IV Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have a low potential for abuse relative to substances in Schedule III.
Examples of Schedule IV substances include: alprazolam (Xanax®), carisoprodol (Soma®), clonazepam (Klonopin®), clorazepate (Tranxene®), diazepam (Valium®), lorazepam (Ativan®), midazolam (Versed®), temazepam (Restoril®), and triazolam (Halcion®).
Schedule V Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have a low potential for abuse relative to substances listed in Schedule IV and consist primarily of preparations containing limited quantities of certain narcotics.
Examples of Schedule V substances include: cough preparations containing not more than 200 milligrams of codeine per 100 milliliters or per 100 grams (Robitussin AC®, Phenergan with Codeine®), and ezogabine.

This data set includes the estimated number of individuals in Pennsylvania with Drug Use Disorder, which is an approximation for Opioid Use Disorder prevalence. The estimates are developed by applying mortality weights derived from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics to statewide illicit drug use estimates from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).