Anticipatory Guidance to Prevent Adolescent Overdoses

Drug overdoses and poisonings are now the third leading cause of death among American children and adolescents younger than age 19 years.¹  In 2022, overdoses claimed the lives of >1100 adolescents aged 14 to 18² —approximately the equivalent of a high school classroom every week. From 2019 to 2021 alone, adolescent overdose mortality doubled, driven by the widespread infiltration into the US drug supply of highly potent, illicitly manufactured fentanyl, which now causes >3 of every 4 adolescent overdose deaths.^2 ,3 

Pediatricians routinely provide anticipatory guidance to patients and families regarding the top 2 causes of death in children—firearm injuries and motor vehicle crashes.¹  As 2 pediatric addiction medicine specialists and a parent who lost her 18-year-old daughter to fentanyl poisoning, we believe there is now an urgent need for pediatricians to counsel adolescents and families on potentially lifesaving overdose prevention strategies. Pediatricians typically offer...