For The Daily Journal
In the last 15 years, the cost of the opioid epidemic to Johnson County alone was nearly $608 million, according to a new study.
The study, which looked at the impact of the opioid crisis on state and local economies, the labor market and health care from 2013 to 2017, found that the cost to the state is more than $4 billion a year — or about $11 million per day.
In Johnson County, the cost was more than $72.7 million last year, according to the study by Ryan Brewer, associate professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, and Kayla Freeman, a doctoral candidate in finance at the IU Kelley School of Business in Bloomington.
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In addition to the numbers, recommendations for action by state officials were also included in the study, which was released Monday in a special issue of the Indiana Business Review, published by the Indiana Business Research Center.
Opioid addiction affects a person’s ability to find employment and be part of the labor force, leading to a reduced gross state product, the researchers said. They found that lost gross state product has increased from $0 in 2003 to $1.72 billion in 2016 — almost double the $926 million lost in 2015.
Potential wages lost due to opioid misuse totaled $752 million in 2016, Brewer and Freeman said.
“While it is true the entire nation has been mired in the crisis, only a handful of states — including Indiana — have been struggling with the epidemic while also facing an increasingly tight labor market, which challenges our hopes of realizing strong post-recessionary growth in an economy where labor is increasingly difficult to find,” Brewer said in an Indiana University news release. Among the researchers’ findings regarding Indiana:
More than 12,300 Indiana residents are estimated to have died from 2003 to 2017 due to opioid overdoses
More than $40 million is spent annually statewide for rehabilitation costs
The cost of drug arrests and court costs exceeds $13 million annually, and costs of incarceration have reached more than $70 million each year
Total marginal costs for neonatal abstinence syndrome — when infants experience withdrawal symptoms after losing access to their mother’s drugs after birth — totaled more than $36 million in 2016
An estimated 5,243 Hoosier children were in foster care due to parental opioid misuse as of 2016
“Indications from national and local sources suggest communities across the country and within Indiana continue to experience worsening conditions and increasing numbers of misuse cases,” Brewer and Freeman wrote in the study.
Counties have incurred damages that total hundreds of millions of dollars — and in some cases more than $1 billion — because of the impact of opioid addiction. Those damages include direct costs, including emergency workers, hospitalization, treatment, foster care and court costs, and the value of lost productivity from those who have died due to opioid use each year from 2003 through 2017.
For example, in Bartholomew County the impact in 2017 was nearly $34 million, and $239.8 million over the 15-year study period. In Hancock County, the amount was $53.9 million in 2017, and $500 million over 15 years.
The researchers included six recommendations after studying the damage caused by the crisis:
Community leaders, elected officials, business professionals, organizational leaders, law enforcement and others should be unbiased in their appreciation of human life and not stigmatize those afflicted by the opioid addiction epidemic.
American medical and dental schools and organizations need to revisit the teaching strategy for developing new physicians and oral surgeons, particularly with regard to the risks of prescribing pharmaceuticals.
Indiana, as a leading state in the bio-sciences industry, should lead a concerted effort to develop and commercialize effective, non-addictive, powerful pain relievers.
Educational leaders from pre-K through college should consider expanding their curricula about understanding the risks associated with the misuse of pharmaceuticals, and learning methods to identify at-risk students so intervention can occur early.
Mayors, sheriffs, congressional representatives, doctors, hospital leaders and others should consider forming a task force of local resources to develop comprehensive solutions.
Keeping an open mind about any solution that may prove beneficial.
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To read the full study — introduction and three main stories — go online at ibrc.kelley.iu.edu/analysis/articles-topic/economy.html
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Ryan Brewer, associate professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, and Kayla Freeman, a doctoral candidate in finance at the IU Kelley School of Business, studied the impact of the opioid crisis on state and local economies, the labor market and health care.
Here are some of their findings:
- Economic impact to Indiana $43.3 billion from 2003 to 2017
- $4.3 billion impact last year, about $11 million daily
- Impact expected to exceed $4 billion this year
- $1.72 billion in lost gross state product in 2016
- More than 12,300 state residents estimated to have died 2003 to 2017 due to opioid overdoses
- More than $40 million spent annually for rehabilitation
- Cost of drug arrests and court costs exceeds $13 million annually
- Costs of incarceration more than $70 million annually
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