For the first time, peak annual 100,000 drug overdose deaths, driven by fentanyl, CDC data shows
More than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States during the 12-month period ending April 2021, according to interim data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. Private.
Opium continues to be the leading cause of overdose deaths. The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics says synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, have caused nearly two-thirds (64%) of all drug overdose deaths over a 12-month period ending April 2021, up 49% year over year.
Experts say the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise in fentanyl use are both major causes of the increase in overdose deaths.
The latest interim data on drug use deaths records deaths that occurred between May 2020 and April 2021. Covid-19 killed about 509,000 people in that same time frame, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told CNN: “What we’re seeing is the impact of these crisis patterns and the emergence of more dangerous drugs at high prices. Much lower. “In a crisis as severe as this, people who have already used drugs can take higher amounts of the drug, and people who are recovering can relapse. That’s a phenomenon we’ve seen and probably seen. could have predicted.”
But the rise of fentanyl, a stronger and faster-acting drug than natural opiates, has made those effects even more lethal, she said.
The increasing use of synthetic drugs had attracted the attention of experts before Covid-19 hit, but the pandemic may have exacerbated the problem.
When international travel is limited, synthetic substances that are easier to produce and more concentrated can be more effective for smuggling across borders, says Volkow.
The US government has seized enough fentanyl this year to give every American a lethal dose, Drug Enforcement Administration Manager Anne Milgram said Wednesday at a White House press conference. , called the US overdose epidemic “a national crisis” that “knows no geographical boundaries” and that it continues to get worse. ”
New federal data shows that the number of deaths from overdoses from methamphetamine and other psychostimulants also increased significantly, up 48% in the year ending April 2021 from the year before. They accounted for more than a quarter of all drug overdose deaths in the most recent 12-month period.
While fentanyl used to be more common on the East Coast and methamphetamine on the West Coast, Volkow said both are now popular nationally.
Deaths from cocaine and prescription painkillers also increased from a year earlier, but not significantly.
As the country reopens and society returns to its pre-pandemic normal, experts say people will continue to die from drug overdoses at a very high rate without action. significantly improve access to treatment.
Dr. Andrew Kolodny, medical director of opioid policy research at the Heller School of Social Affairs at Brandeis University, said: “Even if Covid goes away tomorrow, we still have problems. Policy and Governance. physical.
“These are deaths in people with preventable and treatable conditions. The United States continues to fail on both fronts, both in terms of preventing opioid addiction and treating addiction,” he said. , while emphasizing the need for President Joe Biden in his campaign. crisis resolution.
Last month, the US Department of Health and Human Services released an overview of the Biden Administration’s drug overdose plan. It includes measures to address opioid prescribing practices and remove barriers to treatments, as well as rehabilitation assistance and federal support for harm reduction strategies.
On Wednesday, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released a model law, providing states with a template to pass their own legislation to improve access to naloxone, a drugs that prevent opioid overdose.
“If we really want to go the other way,” says Kolodny, “we have to get to a point where treatment for opioid addiction is more easily accessible than with fentanyl, heroin or prescription opioids,” Kolodny said, referring to opioid addiction. medicines including buprenorphine.
“The evidence is really clear that using medication to treat opiate addiction disorder will,” said Beth Connolly, director of the Pew Charity Trusts substance use treatment and prevention initiative. save lives. “As we see more and more evidence that (drugs) save lives, that will hopefully reduce stigma and categorize in favor of individuals.”
Interim overdose mortality data are updated monthly by the NCHS and are subject to change, as drug overdose deaths often require “prolonged investigation, including toxicology testing.” ” to confirm the cause of death.
The latest estimates from the CDC show that the number of drug overdose deaths is somewhere between the number of deaths from Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. In 2019, Alzheimer’s disease caused about 121,000 deaths and diabetes killed about 88,000 in the US.
As of 2016, drug overdoses killed about as many Americans as car accidents and gun violence combined. Currently, drug overdoses double the number of deaths.
According to data from the CDC, heart disease was the leading cause of death in the US in 2019, killing nearly 660,000 people. Cancer kills nearly 600,000 people. These figures reflect final, annual updates and are not directly comparable to interim data.
.
