Gundersen study shows 419 of its overdoes cases cost $6.2 million in hospital stays alone

Majority of overdoses were from sedatives or benzos.

When hearing overdoes, most think heroin or another opioid drugs.

A recent study over 2016 overdoses at Gundersen Health System shows the cause is far less sinister.

“The most significant thing that caught our eye when we were doing this research was that those 419 patients cost $6.2 million to treat and that’s just for that hospitalization,” Dr. Brenda Rooney, said.

She’s an independent researcher at Gundersen and co-authored the study, which aimed to find common patterns to cases.

That $6.2 million amounted to more than $14,000 per patient.

In total, there was more than 1,500 overdoses treated at the hospital or the emergency room. Over half those patients were aged 25-49.

Those 419 overdoses were selected for the study to see if any of the cases had a common theme including race, gender, social status or other factors. 

A majority of the overdoses came from sedatives or benzos like Xanax or Valium, which didn’t surprise Rooney, who co-authored the study.

Rooney says more research will continue in the future to try and find better treatment options before someone overdoses.