The Opioid Tragedy, Part 2: ‘It’s Not a Death Sentence’
<p>Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died of opioid overdoses in recent years. While opioid deaths in the United States have started to level off, more than one in five Americans still have at least one opioid prescription filled or refilled per year. And a dependence on prescription opioids can too easily lead to a dependence on heroin or synthetic fentanyl, both of which are far deadlier.</p>
<p>The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that roughly 2 million Americans have opioid use disorder. As health care economist <a href="https://cssh.northeastern.edu/people/faculty/alicia-sasser-modestino/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Alicia Sasser Modestino</a> told us in <a href="https://gen.medium.com/the-opioid-tragedy-part-1-weve-addicted-an-entire-generation-134e77b285d7" rel="noopener">a previous column</a>, an entire generation has been addicted at this point.</p>
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