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Crain's Publishes Letter Addressing Flawed Opioid Study

On Sunday, April 15, 2018, Crain's Cleveland Business published a letter to the editor submitted by the Northeast Ohio Hospital Opioid Consortium addressing a recently released opioid study promoting a flawed perspective.

"We at the Northeast Ohio Hospital Opioid Consortium are dismayed by a newly published manuscript titled 'The Moral Hazard of Lifesaving Innovations: Naloxone Access, Opioid Abuse, and Crime,' by economists Jennifer Doleac and Anita Mukherjee," wrote the letter's lead author Emily Metz, manager, MetroHealth Office of Opioid Safety. "The authors suggest the use of naloxone, which is a rescue drug that can reverse opioid overdoses and save lives, exacerbates opioid usage and contributes to crime. This study omits more than 20 years of public health research on naloxone access and its effects on mortality and drug use among those who are at risk of opioid overdose."

The opioid study letter to the editor, "Flawed research not useful amid opioid epidemic," was submitted to Crain's by the following Opioid Consortium members:

• Dr. Joan Papp, MetroHealth
• Dr. Randy Jerenjcic, University Hospitals
• Dr. Lisa Yerian, Cleveland Clinic
• Dr. Ted Parran, St. Vincent’s Charity Medical Center
• Dr. Kevin Smith, Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare Systems
• Dr. Tom Collins, Academy of Medicine of Cleveland and Northern Ohio
• Michele Fancher, grant development manager, The Center for Health Affairs
• Lisa Anderson, senior vice president of member services, The Center for Health Affairs
• Emily Metz, manager, MetroHealth Office of Opioid Safety

To read the full letter to the editor addressing the recent opioid study, visit the Crain's website.