More opioid marketing may be causing more opioid deaths

Medicine.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Opioid marketing focused on targeting doctors can be linked to an increase in opioid overdoses in the U.S., a study published Friday found.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, say that the pharmaceutical industry spent nearly $40 million on marketing opioids to U.S. doctors between 2013 and 2015. Increased opioid marketing by county was associated with a higher overdose mortality rate the following year, the report states.

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Marianne Dodson

Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.