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The Opioid Epidemic In West Virginia, Nicholas Bowden, Rachel Merino, Sruthi Katamneni, Alberto Coustasse
The Opioid Epidemic In West Virginia, Nicholas Bowden, Rachel Merino, Sruthi Katamneni, Alberto Coustasse
Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH
The rate of overdose-related to the use of licit and illicit opioids has drastically increased over the last decade in the U.S. The epicenter being West Virginia the highest rates of overdoses accounting for 41.5 deaths for 100,000 people among the 33,091 deaths in 2015. The number of people injecting drugs has increased from 36% in 2005 to 54% in 2015. The total U.S cost of prescription opioid abuse in 2011 has been estimated at $25 billion, and criminal-justice-system costs to $5.1 billion. The reasons for this opioid epidemic incidence in WV have been a combination of sociocultural factors, a …