A closer look at Doleac and Mukherjee (2022) and the effects of naloxone access laws on opioid ER admissions

Abstract In their 2022 study, ‘The Effects of Naloxone Access Laws on Opioid Abuse, Mortality, and Crime,’ Doleac and Mukherjee conclude that broadening access to a life‐saving drug—naloxone—does not reduce opioid‐related mortality as the drug simultaneously encourages riskier drug use. I show issues with their data, design, and estimation methods. For example, their Google Search data has an unverifiable origin, the law timing is incorrect, and the statistical inference is invalid. Correcting these issues within a triple difference design shows that naloxone, contrary to their findings, does not increase ER opioid admissions. I conclude that the moral hazard (and the ensuing adverse consequences) of naloxone use lacks empirical support.