Opioid Overdoses and Deaths Rising in US Hospitals

A review of data concerning nearly 23 million adult hospital admissions that occurred between 2009 and 2015 revealed a 34% increase in opioid overdose-related ICU admissions during this time. Furthermore, the average cost of care per ICU overdose admission increased from just under $59,000 in 2009 to more than $92,000 in 2015. Lead author Dr. Jennifer Stevens comments, “Those of us who work in hospital intensive care units need to make sure we have the tools we need to help patients with opioid use disorders when they are at their sickest, because there doesn’t appear to be any end to this epidemic in sight.” Annals of the American Thoracic Society, August 2017