Fentanyl-related Deaths Increased By 279% In The US

Fentanyl-related Deaths Increased By 279% In The US

Introduction

According to recently disclosed data, the number of drug overdose deaths containing the synthetic opioid fentanyl surged by 279% in the United States between 2016 and 2021.

According to the research, which was issued by the National Centre for Health Statistics of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate climbed overall from 5.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016 to 21.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. The greatest fentanyl overdose fatality rates in 2021 were among those aged 35 to 44 (43.5 per 100,000), followed by people aged 25 to 34 (40.8 per 100,000).

The National Vital Statistics System, which gathers statistics on births and deaths in the United States, provided the data for the latest study. The study's authors also gathered information on overdose deaths caused by methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and oxycodone in addition to fentanyl. The aggregate totals for each substance included include fatal overdoses using several drugs, such as those mixing methamphetamine and fentanyl.

The CDC cautions that because fentanyl is frequently combined with other drugs including heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, the opioid is frequently blamed for overdoses ascribed to other drugs. For instance, the New York State Department of Health recorded a rise in fatal overdoses associated with methamphetamine in 2022 but stated that the growth was mostly attributed to an increase in deaths involving methamphetamine and fentanyl, rather than meth alone.

The new CDC study discovered that the rates of fatal overdoses involving fentanyl in 2021 were greater than for any other drug, across all races and ethnicities, in the analysis. Similarly, fentanyl was responsible for the greatest rates of fatal overdoses in the majority of U.S. areas in 2021.

The fatality rates from fentanyl and methamphetamine were comparable in two areas, which included the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

In the five-year study period, the overall rate of methamphetamine overdose deaths "more than quadrupled," rising from 2.1 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 9.6 per 100,000 in 2021. Between 2016 and 2021, the number of cocaine-related fatalities more than quadrupled, from 3.5 per 100,000 to 7.9 per 100,000.

The fatality rate related to oxycodone fell somewhat throughout the same time frame. The analysis observed that although the rate of fatal heroin overdoses decreased, this fall was not statistically significant.