EFFORTS TO REDUCE OVERDOSE DEATHS/SCHWARTZ ET AL. RESPOND

The recent article by Schwartz et al. addresses the intersection of two important public health issues: opiate substitution therapy and fatal heroin overdose.1 In the United States, drug overdose is responsible for more than 36 000 deaths annually2 and is the leading cause of death among illicit drug users. Susan G. Sherman, PhD, MPH Jennifer Han, ScM Christopher Welsh, MD Patrick Chaulk, MD, MPH Chris Serio-Chapman, BA About the Authors Susan G. Sherman is with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. Jennifer Han and Chris Serio-Chapman are with Community Risk Reduction Services, Baltimore City Department of Public Health, Baltimore. R. P. Schwartz was Drug Addiction Treatment Program Director from 1998 to 2008 and Senior Fellow from 2008 to 2009 for the Open Society Institute-Baltimore, which provided grant support to expand access to drug abuse treatment (in- cluding but not limited to methadone, buprenorphine, and naloxone) in Baltimore.