Racial Disparities in Overdose Prevention among People Who Inject Drugs

Excerpt

The current opioid epidemic is the largest drug use epidemic in the history of the USA for all racial and ethnic groups [1]. Fatal opioid overdose rates continue to be exceedingly high, with 2017 experiencing an 11% increase in opioid-related fatalities compared to 2016 and more than a 670% increase since the height of the heroin epidemic in 1975 [1, 2]. The rise in fatal opioid overdose since the 1970s heroin epidemic has differentially affected racial groups. In the 1970s, opioid mortality was higher among Black Americans [3, 4]. In recent years, the racial profile of opioid-related fatalities has changed and has been highest among non-Hispanic Whites, with White individuals accounting for 37,113 (78%) and Black individuals for 5513 (12%) of the 2017 opioid-related deaths [2]. These discrepant racial trends in fatal overdose can be partially attributed to the surge in prescription opioids starting in the mid-1990s, which caused a concentrated rise in mortality among Whites while opioid-related mortality among Black individuals remained stable [5]. This divergence is associated with well noted racial disparities in pain management and prescription patterns, with Black patients prescribed opioids at lower rates compared to all other racial/ethnic groups for almost every type of pain visit [5]. …