In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, another crisis has been unfolding — one that isn’t making headlines but is claiming thousands of lives. Alcohol-related liver disease has quietly surged to become the leading cause of alcohol-related deaths, surpassing even motor vehicle fatalities. At Keck Medicine of USC, doctors like hepatologist Brian P. Lee, MD, see the consequences firsthand.

In 2024, a study led by Lee found that from the pre-pandemic year of 2018 to the height of the pandemic in 2020, heavy alcohol use among Americans rose by 20%, and alcohol use of any amount rose by 4%. In 2022, increases were sustained, and the rise in drinking was seen across all age groups, genders, race, ethnicities and regions of the country, except for Native Americans and Asian Americans. Adults ages 40 to 49 had the highest increase in alcohol use.

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