Opioid Addiction Cost American Employers Between $10-$25 Billion a Year

A recent study by the ASAM estimates that American employers lose billions of dollars a year of productivity due to opiate abuse. These losses appear in the form of missed work, injuries related to intoxication, and termination and training of new replacement employees. In some studies, that number has been estimated to be as high as $65 billion dollars per year in the US alone, but the problem is worldwide.

The study serves as yet another example of the reach and devastation related to the American addiction crisis, in its many and often hidden forms.

Nationally, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, employers are losing $10 billion a year from absenteeism and lost productivity due to opioid abuse.

Nearly one in 20 workers who have received an opioid prescription, on average 4.5 percent, have demonstrated a pattern of drug abuse, according to the firm’s research. Among baby boomers, the prevalence of abuse is even higher at nearly 7.5 percent. Read More…

What makes this study unique is its assertion of an exact dollar figure regarding the damages caused by this issue, and the fact that a very large portion of these addicts are highly functional professionals and blue-collar … READ MORE

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