Quick Answer. The liver is an organ of the digestive system. The role of the digestive system is to transform food into necessary energy and to rid the body of solid waste. The liver functions within this system by producing bile and by filtering the blood from the digestive system.
The Times analysis of 2009 death statistics, the most recent available, showed: 1  For the first time ever in the US, more people were killed by drugs than motor vehicle accidents. 2  37,485 people died from drugs, a rate fueled by overdoses on prescription pain and anxiety medications, versus 36,284 from traffic accidents.
How many people suffer adverse health consequences from misuse of prescription drugs? The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) monitored emergency department (ED) visits in selected areas across the Nation through 2011. DAWN reported that more than 1.2 million ED visits in 2011 could be attributed to nonmedical use of prescription drugs; this represents about half (50.5 percent) of all ED visits related to drug misuse.