How the Reformulation of OxyContin Ignited the Heroin Epidemic

William Evans, Ethan Lieber and Patrick Power

No 24475, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We attribute the recent quadrupling of heroin death rates to the August, 2010 reformulation of an oft-abused prescription opioid, OxyContin. The new abuse-deterrent formulation led many consumers to substitute to an inexpensive alternative, heroin. Using structural break techniques and variation in substitution risk, we find that opioid consumption stops rising in August, 2010, heroin deaths begin climbing the following month, and growth in heroin deaths was greater in areas with greater pre-reformulation access to heroin and opioids. The reformulation did not generate a reduction in combined heroin and opioid mortality—each prevented opioid death was replaced with a heroin death.

JEL-codes: I1 I11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
Note: EH
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Published as William N. Evans & Ethan M. J. Lieber & Patrick Power, 2019. "How the Reformulation of OxyContin Ignited the Heroin Epidemic," The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol 101(1), pages 1-15.

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