Why a Study on Opioids Ignited a Twitter Firestorm (The Atlantic)
Wednesday Mar 14th, 2018
A paper on overdose-reversal drugs reached a conclusion no one liked. The pushback raised questions about sexism and scientific methods.
With the opioid epidemic claiming more than 100 lives a day in the U.S., every state now has some sort of law expanding access to naloxone, also known as Narcan. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that makes someone who has overdosed start breathing again. Sometimes, its powers are said to bring an overdose victim “back to life.” That led two economists to wonder, does the prospect of not dying from opioids make people more likely to use opioids? And are they more likely to, ultimately, die as a result?
“[Doleac and Mukherjee’s] study assumes that passage of these laws lead immediately to everyone having easy access to naloxone when they need it, when this is not the case,” said Leana Wen, Baltimore’s health commissioner.