Open AccessEconomic burden of drug overdose deaths before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA
Author(s) -
Briana Lui,
Robert S. White,
Jaime Aaronson,
Marguerite Hoyler
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of comparative effectiveness research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.567
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 2042-6313
pISSN - 2042-6305
DOI - 10.2217/cer-2021-0314
Subject(s) - medicine , pandemic , covid-19 , drug overdose , quarter (canadian coin) , emergency medicine , medical emergency , environmental health , poison control , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , outbreak , geography , archaeology
Aim: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic burden of drug overdose deaths in the USA. Methods: Overdose death counts from 2019 to 2020 were obtained from the CDC's National Vital Statistics System. Years of potential life lost and value of statistical life were computed. Results: The financial burden of overdose deaths increased by nearly 30%, from US$624.90 billion before the pandemic in 2019 to US$825.31 billion during the pandemic in 2020. Temporal analysis demonstrated that overdose deaths peaked in the second quarter of 2020 and contributed to nearly a third of the total 2020 value of statistical life. Conclusion: The authors' findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the US drug overdose epidemic.