According to Halena Gazelka, M.D., the COVID-19 pandemic indirectly caused a significant increase in opioid overdoses in the United States, primarily due to illicit-market drugs such as fentanyl rather than clinical overprescribing.
Sources
- CDC releases updated guideline for prescribing opioids for pain (newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org)
- https://advancingthescience.mayo.edu/2022/11/18/cdc-releases-updated-guideline-for-prescribing-opioids-for-pain (advancingthescience.mayo.edu)
- https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7050e3.htm (cdc.gov)
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10467501/ (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.weau.com/2020/09/30/opioid-overdoses-increase-nationally-during-covid-19-pandemic/ (weau.com)
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