Overdose Deaths Increase

“Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday. That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase.” (AP News)

“A group of state attorneys general unveiled on Wednesday a landmark $26 billion settlement with large drug companies for allegedly fueling the deadly nationwide opioid epidemic… Under the settlement proposal, the three largest U.S. drug distributors -- McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and AmerisourceBergen Corp -- are expected to pay a combined $21 billion, while drugmaker Johnson & Johnson would pay $5 billion.” (Reuters)

On July 8, “Fifteen more states reached an agreement with Purdue Pharma LP and members of its wealthy Sackler family owners that moved the OxyContin maker a step closer to resolving widespread opioid litigation and exiting bankruptcy protection… the Sackler contributions toward Purdue's bankruptcy-exit plan now total roughly $4.5 billion. The plan aims to resolve some 3,000 lawsuits brought by U.S. communities alleging Purdue and its family owners contributed to an opioid crisis that has claimed the lives of roughly 500,000 people since 1999.” (Reuters)

Many on both sides blame the increase in overdoses more on structural factors than the pandemic, and call on Congress to respond:

“It’s difficult to measure the real impact of isolation, or the psychological burden imposed by mass illness and death… So-called ‘deaths of despair,’ which include drug- and alcohol-related deaths and suicide, had been rising before the pandemic occurred. A massive economic downturn was unlikely to help reverse the trend. Nevertheless, experts have pointed out that there are other factors at work…  “In a January interview with NPR, economist Anne Case, known for her groundbreaking work on deaths of despair, cautioned against settling on the pandemic as a primary explanation for rising overdose deaths. ‘There’s this horribly dangerous, deadly drug on the market that is responsible for this explosion of drug overdoses,’ she pointed out at the time. Fentanyl is significantly more dangerous than heroin, as the Journal points out. When mixed into the drug supply, people may consume it without realizing it’s present and the results can be deadly.” (Sarah Jones, New York Magazine)