COVID-19 is lighting a fire under the opioid epidemic

COVID-19 hit, but the opioid epidemic didn’t go away. Exactly the opposite: while efforts to slow the growth and prevent overdose death ground to a halt under the weight of a new threat, many of our hard-earned gains started to reverse - according to the Washington Post, opioid overdoses have increased in frequency over the course of the pandemic, from 18% in March, 29% in April, and 42% increase in May.

As part of my role on the Physician Speakers Bureau with the National Safety Council, I authored a full blog post on the concerning trend of rising overdose deaths during COVID-19, why it’s happening, and what we can do to get our efforts back on track.

For more information, please see my post on the Safety First Blog, as well as the addiction resource list.