STAT (8/11, Ross) reported “the cost of treating opioid overdose victims in hospital intensive care units” increased by 58 percent “between 2009 and 2015,” according to a study published Friday in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. The average cost spiked from $58,500 to $92,500 over the seven-year period, which “far outpaced the overall medical inflation rate in the U.S.,” the article says.
HealthDay (8/11, Preidt) reported the study’s authors said the findings demonstrate the US “has reached a ‘new level of crisis’ and that opioid-related demand for acute medical care has exceeded the available supply.”
MedPage Today (8/13, Boyles) and Healthcare Finance News (8/11, Sanborn) also covered the story.
Related Links:
— “The cost of treating opioid overdose victims is skyrocketing,” CASEY ROSS, STAT, August 11, 2017.