New study reveals how many lives have been lost to unintentional drug overdose
(KYMA, KECY/CNN) - A new study took into account how many young people had their lives lost to drugs.
Drug overdoses are an ongoing crisis in the United States, both unintentional and otherwise, as adults have been battling addiction.
"The problem of drug overdoses amongst adolescents and young people has been overlooked," said Addiction Medicine Physician Dr. Trent Hall.
Jama Pediatrics has a study published regarding the impact of overdoses on those between the ages of 10 and 19.
"So, we counted years of life lost, which is just the number of years adolescents and young people would have had, had they had full lives," continued Dr. Hall.
Unintentional overdose data from 2015 to 2019 revealed about 200,000 years of life lost and if the data includes ages 10 to 24, then those numbers increase to about one and a quarter million years of life.
Dr. Trent Hall said, "We really need to do something about this. It's clear there's a mortality crisis amongst adolescents and young people in the US due to overdose."
