"US Government Linked to Surge in Suicides, Scientists Say"

A study from the University of Colorado Boulder suggests that the U.S. federal government's weak regulatory oversight of the pharmaceutical industry and tattered social safety nets have significantly contributed to the rising suicide rates in the country. The study points to the approval, easy access, and over-prescription of opioid-based pain relievers as a major factor in the increase of poisoning suicide rates among women, and the onset of the housing and financial crash as a cause for non-poisoning suicides among both men and women. The authors emphasize the need for serious attention to these broader "structural determinants" as important contributors to the issue.