
How to help the opioid crisis without buying more pharmaceuticals
- July 16, 2021
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that opioid-related deaths and overdoses are on the rise.
The study found that between 2013 and 2017, the number of people who died from an opioid overdose in the United States rose by over 100,000.
The increase was particularly notable among people aged 25-54, which was a key group for people who rely on opioids for pain control.
The CDC reported that the increase in opioid-associated deaths in 2017 was nearly double the increase of 2016.
The rise in opioid deaths comes amid a nationwide opioid crisis, which has seen the number increase by nearly 400 percent since the start of the year.
The spike in opioid overdoses has been especially difficult for people of color.
In a 2016 study, researchers found that African Americans were more likely than whites to die from an overdose.
The most recent data suggests that the numbers are higher among people of different ethnicities.
Researchers have also found that opioid overdose deaths in black communities are on average twice as likely to be caused by heroin and fentanyl than those in white communities.
The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) has reported that opioid overdoses have become the most lethal drug crisis in the U.S. Since 2015, nearly 1,400 people have died in opioid overdose incidents nationwide, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Safety Council.