Workers who are injured on the job are at higher risk for fatal opioid-related overdoses, according to a new study, which calls for renewed efforts to reduce the stigma of drug addiction.
The report, released Thursday by the state Department of Public Health, found that working-age Massachusetts residents who died between 2011 and 2020 were 35% more likely to have died of an opioid-related overdose if they had previously been injured at work.
DPH researchers compiled information about individuals’ employment and work-related injury status from their workers’ compensation claims and linked it to data from their death certificates.
Researchers reviewed the details of 4,304 working-age adults who died between 2011 and 2020 and found at least 17.2% had at least one workplace injury claim and died of an opioid-related overdose, according to the study.
Public health officials say the study is the first linking the impact of work-related injuries to opioid-related overdose deaths.
“Occupational injuries can take both a physical and mental toll, and those who suffer injuries at work may be discouraged from seeking help because of stigmatization and fear of losing their jobs,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh said in a statement. “Avoiding or delaying care can lead to a preventable overdose death.”
Walsh called for stepped-up efforts to “eliminate the stigma that accompanies substance use disorder in all sectors of society, including the workplace.”
The release of the report comes as opioid overdose deaths remain devastatingly high in the Bay State, despite a slight decrease over the past year.
There were 2,323 confirmed or suspected opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023 — eight fewer than the same period in 2021, according to a report released in December by the health department.
Health officials attributed the persistently high death rates to the effects of an “increasingly poisoned drug supply,” primarily with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Fentanyl was present in 93% of the overdose deaths where a toxicology report was available, state officials noted.
Curbing opioid addiction has been a major focus on Beacon Hill for a number of years with hundreds of millions of dollars being devoted to expanding treatment and prevention efforts.
The state has set some of the strictest opioid-prescribing laws in the nation, including a cap on new prescriptions in a seven-day period and a requirement that doctors consult a state prescription monitoring database before prescribing an addictive opioid.
The Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund, created by the state Legislature in 2020, has received more than $101 million from settlements with drug makers and distributors over their alleged role in the opioid crisis, according to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.
More than 25,000 people have died from opioid-related overdoses in Massachusetts since 2011, according to state records.
Nationally, fatal drug overdoses fell by roughly 3% in 2023, according data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the toll from fatal overdoses in 2023 remained high, claiming 107,543 lives, the federal agency said.
Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were responsible for approximately 70% of lives lost, while methamphetamine and other synthetic stimulants are responsible for approximately 30% of deaths, the CDC said.
“The shift from plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, to synthetic, chemical-based drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine, has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced,” Anne Milgram, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in a recent statement.
The DEA points to Mexican drug cartels, who it says are smuggling large quantities of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs manufactured in China into the country along the southern border.
“The suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and money launderers all play a role in the web of deliberate and calculated treachery orchestrated by these cartels,” she said.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.