Criminal legal involvement history linked to higher emergency department visits

Criminal legal involvement history linked to higher emergency department visits

People with a history of criminal legal involvement have higher odds of visiting an emergency department (ED), particularly for substance use and mental health reasons, according to a new study published July 8, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Vidya Eswaran of Washington University in St. Louis, US, and colleagues.

People with past or current criminal legal involvement pay significantly more visits to emergency departments

People with a history of criminal legal involvement have higher odds of visiting an emergency department (ED), particularly for substance use and mental health reasons, according to a study published in PLOS One by Vidya Eswaran of Washington University in St. Louis, U.S., and colleagues.

Justice-Involved Individuals Use Emergency Departments Significantly More

A groundbreaking study published in PLOS One reveals a significant link between lifetime criminal legal involvement (CLI) and increased emergency department (ED) utilization across the United States. Utilizing data collected from over 139,000 adults in the 2021–2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis examined how a history of CLI—defined as ever having been arrested and booked—influences p…