Quantifying the Effects of Fentanyl Exposure Misinformation on Opioid Mortality

Abstract

I identify the impact of fentanyl exposure misinformation- namely, the erroneous belief that momentary, passive contact with the potent opioid fentanyl can be seriously harmful- on first responder behavior during overdose events, and on overall opioid-related mortality. I examine changes in opioid-related mortality following one particularly well-covered episode involving an Ohio police officer in 2017, wherein the officer appeared to experience an acute opioid overdose after touching what was believed to be fentanyl. Employing a synthetic differences-in-differences identification strategy, I find areas with greater media exposure to this misinformation exhibit marked increases in opioid overdose deaths; as well as preliminary evidence to suggest that overdose interventions performed by first responders were less effective and argue that this represents an increased hesitancy to render aid due to the potential presence of fentanyl. These results point to the existence of a heretofore unrecognized driving factor behind the current opioid epidemic, as well as to the need for policy intervention to counteract further dissemination of such adverse misinformation.