Fentanyl on My Mind: Perceived Opioid Exposure Risk and its Influence on Naloxone Administration Rates

Abstract

In this complementary research to my job market paper, I attempt to perform some mechanisms analysis and identify the impact of the dissemination of misinformation on the hazards of passive fentanyl exposure on a specific form of first responder behavior: Naloxone administration during overdose events. I examine changes in naloxone administration by first responder type following one particularly well-covered episode involving an Ohio police officer in 2017. Employing a differences-in-differences framework, I find that law enforcement officers were less likely to attempt resuscitations using naloxone following this event when compared to other types of first responders within the same county-quarters.