ArticleHealth services research2019
Good Samaritan harm reduction policy and drug overdose deaths.
Article in Health services research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review of the emerging literature on the effectiveness of naloxone access laws in the United States.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Pooled it
- A Rapid Review of the Impact of Systems-Level Policies and Interventions on Population-Level Outcomes Related to the Opioid Epidemic, United States and Canada, 2014-2018.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Pooled it
- "They won't prosecute, but they will though:" the continuing struggle between criminalization and harm reduction within the criminal justice system in the context of an opioid overdose crisis.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Mini-review: Harm reduction strategies among people who intentionally use fentanyl.Addictive behaviors reports · 2025Article
- How do restrictions on opioid prescribing, harm reduction, and treatment coverage policies relate to opioid overdose deaths in the United States in 2013-2020? An application of a new state opioid policy scale.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- A systematic review of macro-, meso, and micro-level harm reduction interventions addressing the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic.Drugs (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Fentanyl harm reduction strategies among Latinx communities in the United States: a scoping review.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Using qualitative system dynamics modeling to understand overdose bystander behavior in the context of Connecticut's Good Samaritan Laws and identify effective policy options.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Prevalence and correlates of incarceration following emergency medical services response to overdose.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- Intention to seek emergency medical services during community overdose events in British Columbia, Canada: a cross-sectional survey.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2022Article
- Expert views on state-level naloxone access laws: a qualitative analysis of an online modified-Delphi process.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Awareness and knowledge of the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act among people at risk of witnessing an overdose in British Columbia, Canada: a multi-methods cross sectional study.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2022Article
- Effectiveness and implementability of state-level naloxone access policies: Expert consensus from an online modified-Delphi process.The International journal on drug policy · 2021Article
- Good Samaritan laws and overdose mortality in the United States in the fentanyl era.The International journal on drug policy · 2021Article
- A Critical Review of the Social and Behavioral Contributions to the Overdose Epidemic.Annual review of public health · 2021Review
- Good Samaritan harm reduction policy and drug overdose deaths.Health services research · 2019Article
- The Effect of Naloxone Access Laws on Fatal Synthetic Opioid Overdose Fatality Rates.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the effects of a harm reduction policy, specifically Good Samaritan (GS) policy, on overdose deaths. DATA SOURCES/STUDY
settingSecondary data from multiple cause of death, mortality records paired with state harm reduction and substance use prevention policy. STUDY
designWe estimate fixed effects Poisson count models to model the effect of GS policy on overdose deaths for all, prescription, and illicit drugs, controlled substances, and opioids, while controlling for other harm reduction and substance use prevention policies. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION
methodsWe merge secondary data sources by state and year between 1999 and 2016. PRINCIPAL
findingsWe fail to identify a statistically significant effect of GS policy in reducing overdose deaths broadly.
conclusionsWhile we are unable to identify an effect of GS policy on overdose deaths, GS policy may have important effects on first-stage outcomes not investigated in this paper. Given recent state policy changes and rapid increase in many categories of overdose deaths, additional research should continue to examine the implementation and effects of harm reduction policy specifically and substance use prevention policy broadly.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.