ABC27: Rising number of doctors prescribing opioids for COVID long-haulers, how Pa. is prepared

St. Louis medical researchers are worried about a possible spike in the opioid crisis because a growing number of doctors are prescribing painkillers to COVID-19 long-haulers. In Philadephia, a new study from Penn Medicine showed deaths among the African-American community went up to almost 50 deaths a month. “The results of this study are sobering,” Eugenia South, M.D., and author of the study said. “The Black community has been hit incredibly hard since the start of the pandemic — both with the illness itself and the social and economic fallout, which includes increased gun violence, job loss, and closure of small businesses. We believe the increase in fatal and non-fatal opioid overdoses is a symptom of that.” Read more at ABC27.