September 29, 2022
Opioid/Substance Use Disorders
  • Yesterday, in recognition of National Recovery Month, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) released a new analysis that finds the opioid epidemic cost the U.S. a record of nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last measured the cost in 2017. Adapting the same methodology the CDC used, the JEC estimates the opioid epidemic cost $1.04 trillion in 2018 and $985 billion in 2019. Data show the highest numbers of fatal opioid overdoses ever reported in 2020 and 2021 (69,061 and 80,926 fatalities, respectively), suggesting that the total cost is likely to continue to increase. (Press release here)