Improving Policy Evaluations Of The Opioid Crisis

With fatal opioid overdoses rising steadily between 1999 and 2022, researchers have tried to identify effective policy approaches that can stem the tide and mitigate associated harms. However, policy evaluations intended to inform policy choices may muddy the waters, particularly when they generate inconsistent findings. In this article, we discuss a unifying framework and language for presenting analyses using quasi-experimental methods evaluating opioid policies to facilitate greater understanding of similarities and differences across studies. We discuss key data, methods, and design issues that confront researchers in this space, with the goal of increasing the pace of good science.

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Publication Details

Journal
Health Affairs
Published
2025-09-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2025.00418
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.64
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article

Improving Policy Evaluations Of The Opioid Crisis

Megan S. Schuler, David Powell, Ricky N. Bluthenthal, Seema Choksy Pessar et al.
3 citations
Health Affairs
Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
5.64
article

Improving Policy Evaluations Of The Opioid Crisis

Megan S. Schuler, David Powell, Ricky N. Bluthenthal, Seema Choksy Pessar, Rosanna Smart, Courtney Kase, Corey S. Davis, Stephen W. Patrick, Sean Grant, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Elizabeth A. Stuart, Flora Sheng, Sarah Axeen, Bradley D. Stein, Beth Ann Griffin
article en
3 citations

Abstract

With fatal opioid overdoses rising steadily between 1999 and 2022, researchers have tried to identify effective policy approaches that can stem the tide and mitigate associated harms. However, policy evaluations intended to inform policy choices may muddy the waters, particularly when they generate inconsistent findings. In this article, we discuss a unifying framework and language for presenting analyses using quasi-experimental methods evaluating opioid policies to facilitate greater understanding of similarities and differences across studies. We discuss key data, methods, and design issues that confront researchers in this space, with the goal of increasing the pace of good science.

Health AffairsVol. 44(9)
University of Southern California (US), RAND Corporation (US), Johns Hopkins University (US), Emory University (US), Oregon Sea Grant (US), National Health Law Program (US), University of Pennsylvania (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
5.64
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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Improving Policy Evaluations Of The Opioid Crisis — Megan S. Schuler, David Powell, et al. · Health Affairs (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS