Deaths by suicide and drug overdose significantly increased in the aftermath of the August 2023 Maui wildfire, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study, led by Alex Ortega, dean of the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, and Keawe‘aimoku Kaholokula, chair of the Department of Native Hawaiian Health, in the John A. Burns School of Medicine, both at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, along with Jonathan Purtle, associate professor at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, is one of the first to show that wildfires can lead to immediate deaths from suicide and drug overdose.

About The Studies: JAMA and JAMA Network Open are publishing studies examining the health impact of wildfires in Los Angeles County in January 2025 and in Maui in August 2023. Among the findings:

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