Pandemics and Overdoses: COVID-19 May Worsen Our Opioid Epidemic

JAMA

The novel coronavirus has decimated our economy at the same time as it has directly threatened our health. As if that weren’t bad enough, the economic damage Covid-19 is causing could have an indirect impact on our health. Consider what we already know about economic downturns and opioid overdoses.

A research team led by Atheendar Venkataramani found a creative way to study this connection between employment and opiate use. They looked at communities in the U.S. with automotive assembly plants and explored what happened in places where the assembly plant was closed compared to those where it stayed open.

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PeterUbel