Opioid deaths in America reached new highs in the pandemic

‘Last year (2020) was a woeful time for people suffering from a drug addiction. Government shutdowns brought job losses and social isolation—conditions that make a transportive high all the more enticing. Those who had previously used drugs with others did so alone; if they overdosed, no one was around to call for help or administer naloxone, a medication that reverses opioid overdoses.

‘Fatal overdoses were marching upwards before the pandemic. But they leapt in the first part of last year as states locked down, according to provisional data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths from synthetic opioids—the biggest killer—were up by 52% year-on-year in the 12 months to August, the last month for which data are available. Those drugs killed nearly 52,000 Americans during the period; cocaine and heroin killed about 16,000 and 14,000, respectively (see chart). Once fatalities are fully tallied for 2020, in a few months’ time, it is likely to be the deadliest year yet in America’s opioid epidemic.’

Read here (The Economist, Mar 30, 2021)

More people died of drug overdoses last year than ever before in US

‘The data for the 12-month period ending last June showed 81,003 deaths, a 20% increase over the previous year. Separate research found that weekly counts of all drug overdoses were up to 45% higher in 2020 than in 2019.

• Stat: During Covid-19 pandemic, overdose deaths reached new heights 
• USA Today: Covid pandemic sends more people to ER for drug overdoses’

Read here (Kaiser Health News, Feb 16, 2021)

The Covid-19 pandemic is fueling the opioid crisis

 This fact sheet provided by the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences:

• Identifies the link between the COVID-19 pandemic and an increased risk of opioid misuse.
• Provides tips to manage stressors caused by the pandemic.

Read here (NIH, undated circa 2020)

When a substance abuse crisis and pandemic intersect

‘Even before coronavirus, U.S. drug overdose deaths reached a record high of 70,980 in 2019, an increase of 4.6% from 2018, according to Politico. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids caused 36,500 of the overdose deaths. A more region-specific study underscores the depths of a national problem. Investigating 7 years of deaths in San Francisco, investigators found that more than 1 in 6 deaths attributed to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were actually due to overdose. The findings are significant in that San Francisco’s age-adjusted overdose mortality rate nearly mirrors the national rate.

‘White House and health officials said they expected the COVID-19 pandemic to result in the overdose death rate climbing higher this year.

‘Major news organizations have since linked the events of COVID-19 to increased illicit drug use and mortality. Politico reported on a White House drug policy office analysis showing that drug overdose deaths had risen 11.4% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year. According to Politico, Kentucky saw a 25% increase in overdose deaths between January and March, while emergency medical system calls and emergency department visits related to overdoses also rose between March and June. West Virginia reported a 50% increase in emergency calls in May. The Washington Post similarly reported that suspected overdoses have steadily increased, from an 18% jump in March 2020 compared to March 2019 to a 42% increase in May 2020 compared to last May.’

Read here (AACC, Aug 20, 2020)