(April 6) -- Despite a string of high-profile deaths, overdosing on prescription pain killers, sedatives and opioids isn't exclusive to the rich and famous. A startling number of Americans are now winding up in the hospital after overdosing on potent medications.

"People have seen the headlines related to Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith, and they think that's tragic but maybe contained to Hollywood," Dr. Jeffrey H. Coben, lead author of the report, which will appear in May's American Journal of Preventive Medicine, told Reuters. "But the fact of the matter is, we are seeing, across the country, very significant increases in serious overdoses associated with these prescription drugs."

Coben and his colleagues examined data on some 8 million hospitalizations at 1,000 different hospitals compiled by the U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample. They found that hospitalizations due to overdosing on painkillers, tranquilizers and opioid medications had skyrocketed, going from 43,000 in 1999 to 71,000 in 2006.

That's a 65 percent increase, and more than twice the surge of hospitalizations for intoxication from any other group of drugs.

Many of the drugs in question will likely sound familiar. Opioids include morphine and OxyContin, and sedatives include Valium and Xanax. Overdosing can lead to hallucinations, impaired reflexes, respiratory failure, heart attacks and comas.

And overdoses aren't exclusive to those abusing the meds off-label. Because many can become habit forming, legitimate use can turn dangerous. A report earlier this year tracked 10,000 people who were prescribed opioids for chronic pain. Fifty-one suffered an overdose, and six died.

The most recent report states that unintentional overdosing is now the second leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., behind auto accidents.

Of course, some overdoses are intentional -- and those are on the rise as well. Nearly 24,000 people died of intentional overdose in 2006, compared with 10,000 in 1999.

And while high-profile Hollywood deaths have sparked public interest in prescription drug dependency, the problem has actually been on the rise for nearly 15 years, the study notes.

The explanation for the surge is likely multifaceted. Public perception of the drugs is more relaxed, so researchers speculate that some people are vulnerable to abusing them instead of illegal drugs like heroin or cocaine. They're also easy to acquire, whether legally or otherwise. Doctors dole out prescriptions for the drugs to combat anxiety and chronic or acute pain. And illegal markets have sprung up to respond to increased demand.

"Doctors need to perhaps rethink the types and quantities of medications they are prescribing," Coben told Reuters Health. "And we need to get better messages out to the public in terms of the dangers associated with these medications and combinations of these medications that are being used."

Coben also wants to see hospitals take the initiative by counseling patients being admitted for overdoses.

"One opportunity is to work more directly with people being seen in hospital emergency rooms for prescription drug poisonings, he told CNN. "We don't know for sure that they are at increased risk for death, but they should be treated as a high-risk group."

This study didn't look specifically at teens, but recent research has concluded that prescription meds are now second only to marijuana as the drug of choice for youth. The Partnership for a Drug Free America has dubbed this generation's teens "Generation Rx."