Oct 26 Opioid Crisis Declared Public Health Emergency: Through Policy and Partnership, Employers Can Help
On Thursday, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. Opioid dependency caused approximately 33,000 deaths in 2015, with 15,000 involving a prescription. In 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 2 million people were diagnosed with opioid use disorder (addiction) associated with prescription opioids. According to this data, the crisis undoubtedly impacts employers. The cost of losing valued employees to a drug dependency is substantial, not only to the company, but also to society at large, according to one workplace authority.