Opioid Epidemic and COVID-19 Pandemic: Dual Crises
A recent AHRQ article provides a brief recap on the synergistic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid crisis. Among this recap includes Findings of an NIH analysis of electronic health records that show people with substance use disorder (SUD), including those with opioid use disorder (OUD), are more vulnerable to the coronavirus than individuals without SUD and those with SUD are more likely to both develop COVID-19 and experience worse outcomes (e.g., hospitalization and death).