Nonfatal opioid overdoses at an urban emergency department during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The opioid epidemic is an ongoing patient safety issue. This study examined the impact of the COVID-19 state emergency declaration on nonfatal, unintentional opioid-related overdoses. The authors identified a greater number of opioid overdoses occurring between March 1 to June 30, 2020 compared to March 1 to June 30, 2019, and that Black patients made up a larger proportion of the overdose visits compared with the previous year. These results highlight the potential impact of COVID-19 on racial/ethnic disparities.