Caitlin Owens October 29,
2019
The ongoing
opioid crisis cost $696 billion in 2018 and more than $2.5 trillion between
2015 and 2018, according to a new estimate
by the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Why it matters:
Much of this cost is attributable to lives lost to opioids, but
a good amount of it is borne by state and federal governments — and thus
taxpayers. Meanwhile, opioid litigation settlement talks are homing in on
payouts nowhere near this amount.
For context: $696 billion
was 3.4% of GDP last year — an astronomical amount.
- The
estimate is much higher than a recent report by the Society of Actuaries
because of the way CEA calculated the value of a life.
- It
also includes health care and substance abuse treatment costs, criminal
justice costs and reduced productivity costs.
- "Under
CEA’s calculation, the majority of the costs are 'paid' by those who lost
their lives," special advisor Jared Meyer said.
The big
picture: The drug manufacturers and distributors being sued by thousands
of communities struck a deal last week with the plaintiffs that kept the first
federal opioids trial from beginning as scheduled. But a larger deal to settle
all of the pending lawsuits has yet to be reached.
- Some
state attorneys general have announced
a settlement framework worth $48 billion, but nothing is final.
- Congress
gave $6 billion in new opioid funding in 2018 and 2019, per CEA.
What they're
saying: Andrew Kolodny of Brandeis University said that at least some of
the plaintiffs have the resources to pay much more to help addressing the
epidemic they've been accused of creating.
- "The
distributors and Johnson & Johnson have extremely deep pockets,"
he added. “Considering the cost of the mess they created and the estimate
that comes from the White House Counsel of Economic Advisors, $48 billion
is way too little.”
The bottom
line: "We’re all paying for this," Kolodny said. "We’re
paying an enormous price, both in terms of economic and human costs.”
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