WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump says the opioid epidemic is “ravaging so many American families and communities.” It also appears to be more expensive than previously thought, according to a government analysis released on November 20.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers pegs the true cost of the crisis in 2015 at $504 billion.
The figure is more than six times the most recent estimate. The council said a 2016 private study estimated that prescription opioid overdose, misuse and dependence in the U.S. cost $78.5 billion in 2013. Most of that was attributed to health care and criminal justice spending, along with lost productivity.
The council said that its estimate is significantly larger because the epidemic has worsened, with overdose deaths doubling in the past decade, and that some previous studies didn’t reflect the number of fatalities blamed on opioids, a powerful but addictive category of painkillers.
The council also said previous studies focused exclusively on prescription opioids, while the new analysis included illicit opioids, including heroin.
“Previous estimates of the economic cost of the opioid crisis greatly underestimate it by undervaluing the most important component of the loss — fatalities resulting from overdoses,” the report said.
Trump said November 20 as he met at the White House with his Cabinet that the “opioid epidemic that is ravaging so many American families and communities” would be among the topics for discussion.
