Losing someone dear to an opioid or benzodiazepine overuse is heartbreaking. If you are looking for professional legal advice on how to expose those responsible for the loved one’s death, you are in the right place. As the leading personal injury attorneys in Miami, we understand what you are going through and what we must do to bring the guilty to justice.
Opioids and benzodiazepine are two of the dangerous drugs that can lead to death when overused. Vicodin, morphine, and codeine are some of the common opioids that are prescribed for pain relief and are similar to heroin. These act on the nerve cell receptors of pain and block the pain signals. Because they produce euphoria much like heroin, they can be abused or misused often. In fact, some doctors refer to opioids as “heroin lite”. One out of five patients is prescribed opioids in the U.S. Since 1999, the overdose of opioids has been resulting in fatalities. Morphine and oxycodone were responsible for 29% of deaths due to drug overdoses in 2010.
About 70% of prescription drug overdose-related deaths were caused by opioids, according to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention study. With the opioid epidemic taking over, the sales of these addictive drugs quadrupled between 1999 and 2014. This means it is more important than ever for experienced opioid overdose lawyers to help those who have been wronged by these drugs. Benzodiazepines or “benzos” are used to treat anxiety, epilepsy, and sleeping problems. Commonly available as Valium, Xanax, Ativan or Klonopin, these drugs are used as tranquilizers or sedatives.
