Moreover, it was two to three times as powerful a predictor as the next strongest predictor, either opioid prescription rates or unemployment." A standard exponential equation accurately described ...

The unprecedented increase in drug overdose deaths in the U.S., long believed to be driven by access to legal and illegal opioids, is most closely tied to an equally dramatic decline in upward income ...

During the same period, prescriptions for the strongest opioids - such as morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl - increased by more than 320%. Emma Davies, the author of the academic study, said she ...