Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Staggering Loss': Drug Overdose Deaths Hit Record 93,000 Last Year
NPR: Drug Overdoses Killed A Record Number Of Americans In 2020, Jumping By Nearly 30%
More than 93,000 people died of a drug overdose in the U.S. last year — a record number that reflects a rise of nearly 30% from 2019, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials said the increase was driven by the lethal prevalence of fentanyl as well as pandemic-related stressors and problems in accessing care. "This is the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period, and the largest increase since at least 1999," Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told NPR. (Chappell, 7/14)
AP: US Overdose Deaths Hit Record 93,000 In Pandemic Last Year
That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase. “This is a staggering loss of human life,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends. The nation was already struggling with its worst overdose epidemic but clearly “COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis,” he added. (Stobbe, 7/15)
The New York Times: U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Spiked 30 Percent In 2020
The deaths rose in every state but two, South Dakota and New Hampshire, with pronounced increases in the South and West. Several grim records were set: the most drug overdose deaths in a year; the most deaths from opioid overdoses; the most overdose deaths from stimulants like methamphetamine; the most deaths from the deadly class of synthetic opioids known as fentanyls.(Katz and Sanger-Katz, 7/14)
CNBC: Ease Of Covid Lockdown Restrictions May Help Diminish Drug Abuse, Doctor Says
Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that she’s hopeful that the spike in drug overdoses will not be lasting. “One of the reasons why I’m optimistic ... is that one of the factors that contributed to that increase in drug use was the isolation, social distancing, and that does not allow you to provide Narcan, which reverses overdoses,” said Volkow. “That despair that people felt, hopefully, will start to be mitigated.” (DeCiccio, 7/14)
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New Orleans Times-Picayune: One Of The Nation's Worst Surges In Overdose Deaths Is Happening In Louisiana; Here's Why
Facing a proliferation of the potent opiate fentanyl, along with isolating lockdowns and other stressors related to the coronavirus pandemic, Louisiana endured the nation’s fifth-worst surge in drug overdose deaths last year, the federal government said Wednesday. About 1,930 people died of drug overdoses in Louisiana in 2020, an increase of nearly 48% from the roughly 1,300 such deaths reported in 2019, according to preliminary information from the National Center for Health Statistics. Only Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky and South Carolina registered greater increases, with jumps ranging between 53% and 58%. (Antonio Vargas, 7/14)
KHN: How ERs Fail Patients With Addiction: One Patient’s Tragic Death
Jameson Rybak tried to quit using opioids nearly a dozen times within five years. Each time, he’d wait out the vomiting, sweating and chills from withdrawal in his bedroom. It was difficult to watch, said his mother, Suzanne Rybak, but she admired his persistence. On March 11, 2020, though, Suzanne grew worried. Jameson, 30 at the time, was slipping in and out of consciousness and saying he couldn’t move his hands. (Pattani, 7/15)
NPR: Overdose Deaths Up By 600% In State Prisons
Prisons and jails in the United States have been increasingly deadly places in recent years, according to new federal data. But one cause of death has climbed most dramatically: overdoses. From 2001 to 2018, the number of people who have died of drug or alcohol intoxication in state prisons rose more than 600%, according to an analysis of newly-released data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In county jails, overdose deaths increased by more than 200%. (Schwartzapfel and Jenkins, 7/15)
