US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in pandemic last year

That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase. "This is a staggering loss of human life," said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends. The nation was already struggling with its worst overdose epidemic but clearly "COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis," he added.

Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get, experts said. Jordan McGlashen died of a drug overdose in his Ypsilanti, Michigan, apartment last year. He was pronounced dead on May 6, the day before his 39th birthday. "It was really difficult for me to think about the way in which Jordan died. He was alone, and suffering emotionally and felt like he had to use again," said his younger brother, Collin McGlashen, who wrote openly about his brother's addiction in an obituary.

This August 2017 provided by the family shows Jordan McGlashen, left, and his brother, Collin. Jordan died of a drug overdose in his Ypsilanti, Mich, apartment in 2020. He was pronounced dead on May 6, the day before his 39th birthday. "It was really difficult for me to think about the way in which Jordan died. He was alone, and suffering emotionally and felt like he had to use again," said his younger brother, Collin. Credit: Courtesy Collin McGlashen via AP Read more

This August 2017 provided by the family shows Jordan McGlashen, left, and his siblings, Brandon, Collin, and Kaitlin, in Battle Creek, Mich. Jordan died of a drug overdose in his Ypsilanti, Mich, apartment in 2020. He was pronounced dead on May 6, the day before his 39th birthday. "It was really difficult for me to think about the way in which Jordan died. He was alone, and suffering emotionally and felt like he had to use again," said his younger brother, Collin. Credit: Courtesy Collin McGlashen via AP Read more

In this Sunday, May 10, 2020 file photo, Sharon Rivera adjusts flowers and other items left at the grave of her daughter, Victoria, at Calvary Cemetery in New York, on Mother's Day. Victoria died of a drug overdose in Sept. 22, 2019, when she just 21 years old. According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, drug overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File Read more