Abstract:
As resolution for opioid-related claims and litigation against pharmaceutical manufacturers and other stakeholders, state and local governments are newly eligible for millions of dollars of settlement funding to address the overdose crisis in the United States. To inform effective use of opioid settlement funds, we propose a simple framework that highlights the principal determinants of overdose mortality: the number of people at risk of overdose each year, the average annual number of overdoses per person at risk, and the average probability of death per overdose event. We assert that the annual number of overdose deaths is a function of these three determinants, all of which can be modified through public health intervention. Our proposed heuristic depicts how each of these drivers of drug-related mortality - and the corresponding interventions designed to address each term - operate both in isolation and in conjunction. We intend for this framework to be used by policymakers as a tool for identifying and evaluating public health interventions and funding priorities that will most effectively address the structural forces shaping the overdose crisis and reduce overdose deaths.
摘要:
作为针对药品制造商和其他利益相关者的阿片类药物相关索赔和诉讼的决议,州和地方政府新近有资格获得数百万美元的和解资金,以解决美国的用药过量危机。为有效使用阿片类药物结算资金提供信息,我们提出了一个简单的框架,强调过量死亡率的主要决定因素:每年有过量风险的人数,每个处于危险中的人的平均每年过量用药数量,以及每次用药过量事件的平均死亡概率。我们断言,每年过量死亡人数是这三个决定因素的函数,所有这些都可以通过公共卫生干预进行修改。我们提出的启发式方法描述了这些药物相关死亡率的驱动因素以及旨在解决每个术语的相应干预措施是如何孤立和联合运作的。我们打算让这个框架被政策制定者用作确定和评估公共卫生干预措施和资金优先事项的工具,这些措施和资金优先事项将最有效地解决造成过量危机的结构性力量,并减少过量死亡。