During the pandemic, another devastating health crisis was growing Opioid overdose deaths rose 30% last year, making 2020 the year with the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in the US, according to the CDC. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports on this health crisis that continued to plague the US amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Posted: Jul 17, 2021 1:51 PM Posted By: CNN "I just screamed and cried. I knew my brother was gone." Michelle Branch lost her brother, Craig Elazer, on September 1, 2020, to a fentanyl overdose. He had been receiving support for his addiction, which he had struggled with since he was 12, but a changed world due to the coronavirus pandemic ultimately led to his untimely death.