--- title: ER Prescriptions of Powerful Painkillers Rise: Study description: Emergency departments in America are increasingly prescribing powerful pain killers like Oxycontin and Vicodin. canonical: https://time.com/34408/study-powerful-painkillers-increasingly-prescribed-in-ers/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-22T16:07:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:54:39.849Z article:section: Health og:title: ER Prescriptions of Powerful Painkillers Rise: Study og:description: Emergency departments in America are increasingly prescribing powerful pain killers like Oxycontin and Vicodin. og:url: https://time.com/34408/study-powerful-painkillers-increasingly-prescribed-in-ers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta28a6e6d5c07b071/698686c21eebf743f036ffa6/172168421.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 172168421 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ER Prescriptions of Powerful Painkillers Rise: Study twitter:description: Emergency departments in America are increasingly prescribing powerful pain killers like Oxycontin and Vicodin. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta28a6e6d5c07b071/698686c21eebf743f036ffa6/172168421.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Study: Powerful Painkillers Increasingly Prescribed In ERs  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Mar 22, 2014 4:07 PM UTC  Aspirin AspirinGetty Images  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Mar 22, 2014 4:07 PM UTC Emergency departments in America are [increasingly prescribing](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/er-use-of-narcotic-painkillers-up-almost-50-percent/) strong painkilling drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin amid rising use of the medications nationally. Prescriptions for narcotic painkillers, or opiates, in emergency departments rose 49 percent between 2001 and 2010, according to a study published in this month’s issue of[ Academic Emergency Medicine](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acem.2014.21.issue-3/issuetoc). Doctors have increasingly prescribed the potent painkillers in part because of a movement to improve pain management, according to CBS. But doctors are also increasingly incentivized to please patients—some hospitals offer pay incentives linked to patient satisfaction–and may prescribe the medication to patients who ask for it. The rising use of narcotic painkillers has prompted concerns over the risks of addiction and misuse. Roughly 15,000 Americans die annually from overdosing, and some 12 million people abuse the medication, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \[[CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/er-use-of-narcotic-painkillers-up-almost-50-percent/)\] ER Prescriptions of Powerful Painkillers Rise: Study ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/34408/study-powerful-painkillers-increasingly-prescribed-in-ers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/34408/study-powerful-painkillers-increasingly-prescribed-in-ers/"},"headline":"Study: Powerful Painkillers Increasingly Prescribed In ERs","datePublished":"2014-03-22T16:07:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:54:39.849Z","description":"Prescriptions for narcotic painkillers, or opiates, in emergency departments rose 49 percent between 2001 and 2010, according to a new study. 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