Anxiety drug overdoses soar, study finds

Between 1996 and 2013, the overdose death rate from benzodiazepines in the United States increased from 0.58 to 3.07, new research shows. The rate appeared to stabilize after 2010, however. The study sought to describe trends in benzodiazepine prescriptions and overdose mortality involving benzodiazepines among U.S. adults. Using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and multiple-cause-of-death data from CDC, the researchers found that the percentage of adults filling a benzodiazepine prescription between 1996 and 2013 rose from 4.1% to 5.6%.