In death investigations across 18 U.S. states from 2003–2014, approximately 9% of suicide decedents had evidence of chronic pain at the time of death.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by the original peer-reviewed study (Petrosky et al., Annals of Internal Medicine) and corroborated by multiple independent secondary sources including EurekAlert, Healio, and ACP Internist. [cascade flags: aggregator_dropped_primary_exists | tier=unverified indep_score=0.3 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable] [rescored 2026-09-15: curated origin-host map (PR #65); unclassified hosts no longer scored as aggregators]
Sources
- CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain (seed:health_and_medicine)
- https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M18-0830 (corroboration)
- https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20180910/chronic-pain-may-contribute-to-suicide-deaths (corroboration)