Illinois Department of Public Health data show opioids contributed to nearly 1,200 overdose deaths in the state in 2016. There were about 3 million Schedule II opioid patients in Illinois annually from 2008 through 2016.
Illinois Prescription Monitoring Program data on such patients during that timeframe show the number of prescriptions across the state increased 18 %, growing nearly every year, in the neighborhood of 2% per patient. Prescriptions in the southern 16 counties grew 30%, from two tenths to 2.75 % per patient.
The southernmost counties include Hardin, Pope, Saline, Gallatin, Franklin, Massac, Union, Williamson, Alexander, Jackson, Johnson, Perry, Pulaski, White, Randolph and Hamilton counties.
