Lost chances to treat overdose survivors are documented in new Medicare study

By CARLA K. JOHNSON
AP Medical Writer

People on Medicare who survived a drug overdose were much more likely to later receive opioid painkillers than any medication to treat addiction — and some went on to die of an overdose. That’s according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Overdose deaths climbed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the new study looked at the care of people who survived overdoses in 2020, the pandemic’s first year. Experts say gaps in treatment for overdose survivors exist throughout the U.S. health care system and predate the pandemic.