Wall of 22,000 pills is memorial to opioid overdose victims

CHICAGO – A memorial wall opens to the public in Chicago on Friday that includes 22,000 pills each engraved with the face of someone who died of an opioid overdose.

The National Safety Council memorial will be in Chicago through Nov. 16 before making stops in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Ohio and Washington D.C. The non-profit organization calls the wall “Prescribed to Death: A Memorial to the Victims of the Opioid Crisis.” A machine carves a new pill on site every 24 minutes to represent the frequency of fatal overdoses.

The council also has created “Opioids: Warn Me” labels for insurance and pharmacy cards intended to prompt prescribers and patients to discuss opioids before they’re taken. The council says it has found one in three Americans prescribed an opioid didn’t know they were taking one.