Economics of Painkiller Abuse

The regions of the U.S. in which painkiller use is extremely high also tend to be the poorest sections of the nation. Some of the reasons for this are not hard to fathom. Painkillers can be expensive, but people in areas where the median household income is below half the national average are often four times as likely to use the painkillers as residents of more affluent states.

The CDC released its study of painkiller use and drug overdoses with great fanfare. “Deaths from prescription painkillers have reached epidemic levels in the past decade. The number of overdose deaths is now greater than those of deaths from heroin and cocaine combined,” the agency reported. Much of this overuse is caused by nonprescription use of the pills. The demography of the regions where use is highest was not mentioned in the report at all.

Information from the CDC’s “Prescription Painkiller Overdoses in the U.S.” includes a map of painkiller use by state. Among the top 10 are West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Alabama. Each of these are among the states with the lowest median income. Florida and Maine are also listed. Each is in the bottom half of states ranked by median income.

One conclusion that could be drawn from the study is that painkiller abuse is part of the pattern of misery in these poorest states. Other parts of the pattern include obesity, trouble in the housing markets and high unemployment. This is another example of how the federal government can identify areas of America that are in trouble without setting a policy to address how those areas might be helped. Like housing and poverty, abuse of painkillers is not a national problem; it is local.

At the end of the CDC study, the agency reports that it is “Tracking prescription drug overdose trends to better understand the epidemic.” Some of the most important trends are already obvious.

Douglas A. McIntyre