Economic losses resulting from opioid overdose deaths in the United States between 2018 and 2020: By opioid type.

Background/objective: Opioid overdose deaths have been on the rise in the last two decades in the United States, yet the economic burden remains unclear. Although prior studies have assessed the economic impact of total overdose deaths at a regional level, there remains a paucity of information surrounding the financial burden due to specific types of opioids on a national level. This analysis aims to examine the economic burden of the opioid overdose crisis by quantifying years of potential lives lost (YPLL) due to premature mortality and the value of those statistical lives (VSL) to estimate monetary losses.

Methods: Death counts for overdose deaths due to fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone from 2018 to 2020 were obtained from the National Vitals Statistics System. Period life expectancy was extracted from the Social Security Administration. Resultant YPLL and VSL were then calculated.

Results: Fentanyl accounted for an overwhelming proportion of opioid-induced deaths (77 percent of deaths in 2018 and 86 percent in 2020 resulting in 2.2 million YPLL and USD 527 billion in financial losses). The largest percentage of overdose deaths from fentanyl and oxymorphone occurred in the 25-34 age range; nearly two-thirds of all fatalities were men. There was also a significant increase in the number of opioid overdose deaths in the year 2020, compared to prior years.

Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that fentanyl contributed a significant proportion of economic losses in this public health crisis. Understanding the distribution of opioid deaths by drug type and subsequent economic losses could guide targeted intervention strategies.