Older Americans Are the Ignored Victims of the Opioid Epidemic
Death certificates have dispelled any doubts about just how devastating the opioid epidemic is. Between May 2020 and April 2021, drug overdoses caused more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S., according to provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics. And a new analysis suggests that many of these deaths are from a somewhat surprising group: older Americans. In adults ages 55 and older, opioid overdose deaths rose tenfold between 1999 and 2019, surging from 0.