Medical Xpress September 30, 2024
2% of all children nationwide—had lost a family member to a drug overdose as of 2019, according to a study by researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania State University. The findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health, shed light on the often-overlooked emotional toll of overdose deaths on the youngest and most vulnerable members of society and provide the first concrete data quantifying its impact.
Since 2006, opioid-related deaths have been rising faster than those caused by other substances. In 2019, opioid overdose deaths were 2.4 times more common than non-opioid-related deaths. By 2022, they had become three times more common.
The study uncovered a troubling trend: About 2% of children...
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