Doctors Prescribing Opioids to COVID âLong Haulersâ By Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News Wednesday, April 28, 2021 (Kaiser News) -- Covid survivors are at risk from a possible second pandemic, this time of opioid addiction, given the high rate of painkillers being prescribed to these patients, health experts say. A new study in Nature found alarmingly high rates of opioid use among covid survivors with lingering symptoms at Veterans Health Administration facilities. About 10% of covid survivors develop âlong covid,â struggling with often disabling health problems even six months or longer after a diagnosis. For every 1,000 long-covid patients, known as âlong haulers,â who were treated at a Veterans Affairs facility, doctors wrote nine more prescriptions for opioids than they otherwise would have, along with 22 additional prescriptions for benzodiazepines, which include Xanax and other addictive pills used to treat anxiety.