Upstate New Yorkers are more likely to die from an opioid overdose than people living in the city, an analysis from New York Focus has found.
They’re admitted to emergency departments for overdoses 31 percent more often per capita than people in the five boroughs, and they’re prescribed opioids more than twice as often.
Although it’s one of the oldest, methadone remains often the best treatment option for patients with severe addictions — and it has become increasingly necessary as the drug supply has become both more addictive and more lethal. While the state’s plan lags, more and more New Yorkers have struggled to get one of the gold standards for opioid treatment.
Jason Dole spoke with New York Focus reporter Spencer Norris.
Photo: Governor Kathy Hochul announces New York has made available all the funding provided in the first year of the opioid settlement agreements on October 30, 2023 in New York, NY. (Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)