Health Affairs Today
Life expectancy in the United States has decreased for the first time in decades. This troubling trend is a rarity in developed nations. One of the main factors driving this decline is the escalating drug overdose crisis. More than 110,000 Americans died by drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in March 2023. To put this in perspective, 58,000 US military personnel died throughout the entire 15-year course of the Vietnam War a half century ago…. More than 47 million people in the US are struggling with a substance use disorder.