Overdose Fatality and Surveillance as a Method for Understanding Mortality Trends in Homeless Populations

To the Editor Baggett et al¹ reported overall and cause-specific mortality rates for a cohort of homeless individuals served by the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, Boston, Massachusetts, during 2003 through 2008. Compared with a similar cohort from 1988 through 1993, the authors reported that drug overdose has emerged as the leading cause of death. We have previously highlighted the burden of drug overdose deaths among homeless adults in New York City (NYC), New York.^2-4