Hospital Emergency Rooms Struggle With Overdose Spike During Pandemic

When the pandemic hit, visits to hospital emergency departments plummeted by more than 40%. People were scared of catching the coronavirus.

But Kristin Holland, a researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found patients experiencing drug-related crises needed help so desperately they kept coming.

"All overdoses and opioid overdoses...those were the only two [categories] for which we saw an increase," Holland said.

How Severe Is Your State's Coronavirus Outbreak?
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
How Severe Is Your State's Coronavirus Outbreak?
Holland's peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed roughly 190 million emergency department visits, comparing cases in 2020 with activity the year before.
The data showed people who didn't catch the coronavirus were still hit hard by disruptions caused by the pandemic. They turned up at emergency departments needing a different kind of care.

"People are indeed experiencing poor mental health, suicidal thoughts, and substance use potentially as a coping mechanism," Holland said.

But experts say many emergency departments aren't well staffed or trained to help patients with these kinds of problems.

"Emergency physicians have always been able to treat the overdose, but we did not have the tools to treat the addiction or the dependency," said Dr. Mark Rosenberg, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

READ MORE