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State-level Opioid Costs and Other SUD Publications

  • 1.  State-level Opioid Costs and Other SUD Publications

    Posted 04-16-2021 13:38
    Association Executives: 

    This week was a big week for publications on substance use disorder. I wanted to share them as they may help with your advocacy, specifically the CDC report on state-by-state cost impacts.

    These publications align with a House committee hearing that examined what Congress should do next on the overdose crisis. The acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Regina LaBelle, told lawmakers the Biden administration wants to focus on improving treatment and recovery services for those most at-risk, along with better training for first responders and healthcare providers. "Make sure that the programs the federal government is funding are effective," LaBelle said. Congress approved billions of dollars for substance abuse prevention and treatment in the Covid relief bills, but lawmakers are pushing for even more action. CCBHCs were discussed as well with special attention to their role with peers and supports for returning citizens from jails and prisons. 

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - State-Level Economic Costs of Opioid Use Disorder and Fatal Opioid Overdose - United States, 2017

    Feijun Luo, Mengyao Li, Curtis Florence

    April 16, 2021

    The U.S. economic cost of opioid use disorder ($471 billion) and fatal opioid overdose ($550 billion) during 2017 totaled $1,021 billion. In the 39 jurisdictions studied, combined costs of opioid use disorder and fatal opioid overdose varied from $985 million in Wyoming to $72,583 million in Ohio. Per capita combined costs varied from $1,204 in Hawaii to $7,247 in West Virginia. States with high per capita combined costs were located mainly in the Ohio Valley and New England. Federal and state public health agencies can use these data to help guide decisions regarding research, prevention and response activities, and resource allocation.


    New York Times - Overdose Deaths Have Surged During the Pandemic, C.D.C. Data Shows

    Abby Goodnough

    April 14, 2021

    More than 87,000 Americans died of drug overdoses over the 12-month period that ended in September, according to preliminary federal data, eclipsing the toll from any year since the opioid epidemic began in the 1990s. The surge represents an increasingly urgent public health crisis, one that has drawn less attention and fewer resources while the nation has battled the coronavirus pandemic. The preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 29 percent rise in overdose deaths from October 2019 through September 2020 - the most recent data available - compared with the previous 12-month period. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were the primary drivers, although many fatal overdoses have also involved stimulant drugs, particularly methamphetamine. 

    Princeton University - COVID-19 reduces access to opioid dependency treatment for new patients

    Aimee Bronfeld

    April 15, 2021

    Americans who were already taking opioids did not experience disruptions in their supply. Patients who were not previously taking opioids for pain management were less likely to receive a new prescription in the first months of the pandemic, but prescriptions for new patients soon bounced back to previous levels. At the same time, fewer new patients entered into medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, which may have contributed to a spike in overdose deaths. The researchers explored the pandemic's impact on the opioid crisis by using a large national database of more than 90 million prescriptions for opioid analgesics and buprenorphine. The research team concluded that patients who were already taking opioid pain medication did not experience a disruption in care. Although the number of weekly prescriptions fell slightly at the start of the pandemic, the amount of medication dispensed remained flat because providers increased the amount prescribed per prescription. Patterns were different for buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependency. Patients who were already in treatment retained access to these drugs during the pandemic. However, the number of buprenorphine prescriptions for new patients decreased by almost a quarter at the beginning of the pandemic and had returned to only 90% of predicted levels by late August. The researchers estimate that about 37,000 fewer people received buprenorphine treatment for opioid dependency as a result of the pandemic. This reduced access to treatment for opioid addiction may have increased overdose deaths. Link to study found here

    National Institute for Health Care Management - Synthetic Opioids Driving a Worsening Crisis of Overdose Deaths

    April 2021

    These interactive graphics allow users to explore how the crisis of overdose deaths involving opioid use has not only grown in magnitude since 2000, but has also changed in character. As the number of opioid overdose deaths grew more than eight-fold between 2000 and 2018 – reaching 49,047 deaths in 2019 – the minutes between deaths fell correspondingly. By 2019, one person was dying of an opioid overdose every 10.7 minutes.


    Health IT Analytics - NIH to Leverage Data Management for Opioid Crisis Research

    April 14, 2021

    The NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative is tapping into data management and stewardship expertise to better inform research related to the opioid crisis. The NIH HEAL Initiative is an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions and reduce the impact of the opioid crisis. While healthcare data has become easier to store and collect, leaders are still working to find ways to maximize the potential of this collected data. The industry is working to prepare data in a way that can make it accessible, break down storage silos while maintaining privacy, and teach researchers and policymakers how to effectively analyze big data resources. The goal is to enable HEAL researchers, other investigators, advocates, providers, and policymakers to easily find NIH HEAL research and data. The platform will also allow these stakeholders to use the data to inform their own research, practice, policies, and programs.

    Thank you! 



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    Brett Beckerson
    Director, Policy & Advocacy
    National Council for Behavioral Health
    Washington DC
    202-684-7457
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