FOX 5 Special: Fatal Addiction

Prescription drug overdoses kill more people than cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine combined. The numbers are dramatic and experts say the problem has become an epidemic.

On a typical Monday morning at the morgue medical examiners perform autopsies. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kris Sperry said the dead tell an all too familiar story.

"Every single day, we're doing autopsies. Far and away, the majority of drug deaths we deal with now are from prescription drugs, medications," said Dr. Sperry. "These people are not trying to kill themselves."

Across the country, overdose deaths are becoming more common than fatal car accidents.

"The trend that has gone on [for] the last six or seven years has [done] nothing but increase. We see more drug deaths every year and it's not slowing down," said Dr. Sperry.

In the Georgia Bureau of Investigation morgue last year, there were 638 drug overdose deaths and 85 percent of those deaths were caused by prescription medications.

"They think it's safe, they don't think about it being toxic," said Dr. Sperry.

Twenty-seven-year-old Andrew Volpe used to think that too.

"I stood up, blinked once and the next thing I know I open my eyes with my father on top of me giving me CPR," recalled Volpe.

A year ago, Volpe almost died from an overdose. "I see tears streaming down his face and I ask what is going on," said Volpe.

Volpe said he started abusing painkillers 10 years ago. Volpe said he and his friends stole the drugs from their parents. The pain pills Volpe took the day he overdosed were from his mother's medicine cabinet.

"I thought it was completely safe," said Volpe. "Kids don't care about finding the scary dealer on the street. The real enemy is the parent on the couch not locking up the medication."

So why are prescription anxiety drugs and painkillers like oxycontin, hydrocodone, morphine and Xanax so addictive? Dr. Michael Vaughn, an addiction psychiatrist, said it's because they're so powerful.

"Tolerance develops really fast, so you have to keep giving more and pretty quickly with that tolerance developing, you start developing withdrawal," said Dr. Vaughan. "I've had members of the choir, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs, it doesn't matter anyone can get addicted."

To prevent addiction and death, experts say the focus needs to be on legislation and education.

Addiction experts say patients should be counseled not to take more of their medications than prescribed and to stay away from mixing painkillers with anxiety drugs.

Experts also advise people, especially parents, to lock their medicine cabinets.

Patients should also talk to their doctor about a long-term plan to get off pain or anxiety pills when they're prescribed.

Forty states now require a prescription drug monitoring program at pharmacies to keep track of prescription abuse and forgery. A bill requiring such a program in Georgia has failed the last 2 years.

Dr. Sperry said he hopes the bill will eventually pass in Georgia and reduce the number of overdose victims he sees every day.

"The message here is very clear. There is a very large health problem here that affects us all, our entire country, and there really is no end in sight," Dr. Sperry said.