Study links auto-plant closures with upticks in opioid deaths

Counties included in this study; click the image to enlarge it.

A newly published study found a strong link between the closure of automotive factories and opioid-related deaths nearby, Nicole Karlis writes for Salon.

The researchers gathered data on opioid-overdose and related deaths in 112 counties near major auto manufacturing plants between 1999 and 2016. During the studied period, 29 counties had a nearby auto plant close. "Researchers found that in those counties where automotive assembly plants had closed five years earlier, opioid deaths were about 85 percent higher among people between the ages of 16 and 65 compared to counties where such plants remained open," Karlis reports.

The authors emphasize that the auto-plant closures, and the despair they bring to laid-off workers and their families, are not the only cause of opioid overdoses. The prevalence of prescription opioids is also a key factor, Karlis reports. The researchers write that they hope the study will raise awareness of some of the underlying causes of the opioid epidemic, and recommend policies that work to reduce both prescription and illicit opioid supply as well as increased diagnosis and treatment of substance-abuse disorders.