Background: Despite an unprecedented increase in drug overdose deaths in the United
States, the risks faced by US health care workers, who often have access to controlled
prescription drugs, are not known. Objective: To estimate risks for drug overdose death
among health care workers relative to non–health care workers. Design: Prospective cohort
study. Setting: United States. Participants: Health care workers (n= 176 000) and non–health
care workers (n= 1 662 000) aged 26 years or older surveyed in 2008 and followed for …

TO THE EDITOR: We read with interest Olfson and colleagues' study (1) showing the
elevated risk for fatal drug overdose faced by health care workers. We agree that their
findings highlight the need to identify and intervene on those who are at highest risk for
overdose death.Although the study nicely describes the occupational risks for substance use
disorders in health care workers, the Discussion section falls short in simply highlighting that
health care workers with opioid use disorder should be offered “medications for opioid use …