Professor Guohua Li
Dr. Guohua Li is the M. Finster Professor of Epidemiology in Anesthesiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Editor-in-Chief for the BMC journal Injury Epidemiology.His research focuses on population-based, injury-related, and policy-oriented studies that encompass novel epidemiological designs, innovative statistical techniques, and complex data systems.
Developments in the opioid epidemic: Q&A with Guohua Li
The opioid crisis has claimed over half a million lives in the United States since 1996. In this Q&A, Guohua Li, Editor-in-Chief of the BMC journal Injury Epidemiology, discusses the origins of the epidemic and more recent developments.
Credit: flickr/Find Rehab Centers
What is the ‘opioid epidemic’ and how did it come about?
The opioid epidemic refers to the unusual and widespread increase in the overdose incidence involving opioids. It is defined primarily by overdose fatality counts in the United States. Some trace the origins of the epidemic to the introduction of the prescription opioid pain killer, OxyContin in 1996, and it has morphed over the years. The epidemic was fueled initially by prescription opioids, then by heroin and by synthetic fentanyl and analogs. Since 2016, stimulant drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamines, have become the new driver. So, from now on we should call this epidemic “the drug overdose epidemic” rather than “the opioid epidemic.”
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