More than 93,000 people died from a drug overdose last year, according to provisional data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. "We've had such a devastating year from the pandemic, and on top of that, a record number of Americans dying of drug overdose." In 2019, there were 70,630 deaths, and compared with that year's rate, deaths in 2020 increased by almost 30%. Sharfstein also cited the Covid-19 pandemic as a reason for overdose deaths spiking in 2020. Sharfstein thinks cases of overdose deaths may decline as the country moves into a less urgent phase of the pandemic.

Source: CNN July 17, 2021 16:41 UTC