Fentanyl deaths skyrocket in the United States, especially in the West | Health Info

By Ernie Mundell Health Day Reporter

TUESDAY, December 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Synthetic forms of the potentially deadly opioid fentanyl are flooding the illicit drug market, leaving a growing number of deadly overdoses in their wake, according to a new U.S. report.

Latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that between May 2020 and April 2021, almost two-thirds (64%) of the more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the country were linked to manufactured fentanyl illicitly or to its chemical cousins.

However, the trend started months before that: New data released Tuesday by the CDC revealed increasing rates of fatal fentanyl-related overdoses across the country between 2019 and 2020.

These deaths “have risen sharply in the Midwestern states (33.1%), southern jurisdictions (64.7%) and western (93.9%),” according to a CDC report summarizing data from July 2019 to December 2020.

Fentanyl is extremely powerful and kills quickly. In fact, more than 56% of people who died from fatal overdoses involving the drug “did not have a pulse when first responders arrived” at the scene, said a team of researchers led by Julie O’Donnell. She is part of the Overdose Prevention Division of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

An expert was struck by this statistic.

“Since more than half of the people who died did not have a pulse when they arrived by medical responders, it is important to improve the response time in the event of an emergency reported with these officers,” said Dr. Scott Krakower, child and adolescent psychiatrist at Zucker Hillside. Glen Oaks Hospital, NY, specializes in adolescent drug treatment.

Looking at the demographics of people dying, the study found that men made up the bulk of these tragedies (73%). Many overdoses kill young people: About 1 in 5 fentanyl-related deaths in the West now occur in men under 25, data shows.

Fatal overdoses most often involved injection drug use, although in western states, “evidence of snorting, smoking, or ingesting, but not injecting, was reported in 57.1% of deaths. “noted the O’Donnell team.

These deaths go beyond opioid abuse: According to CDC statistics, 4 in 10 fentanyl-related deaths now involve a stimulant drug, such as cocaine Where methamphetamine.

“With a large number of cases coexisting with the consumption of stimulants and other substances, better education of the public on the dangers of mixing these agents would be recommended,” Krakower said. “Better access to drug addiction and dual diagnosis programs would allow people to receive treatment. Inform providers, family members and the general public about naloxone rescue kits [where to locate and access them] would also be helpful. “

The scourge of fentanyl deaths only appears to have “accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the study’s authors said. It was only in the northeast that there was any sign of a “plateau”, they said.

According to O’Donnell’s team, synthetic fentanyl was “introduced primarily as an adulterant or as a replacement for white powder heroin,” but then entered illicit markets once dominated by heroin.

More recently, fentanyl has been “squeezed into counterfeit oxycodone-like pills, alprazolam [Xanax], or other prescription drugs, and expand into new markets, including the western United States, ”O’Donnell’s group said.

Efforts towards overdose prevention is urgently needed, the researchers said.

On December 1, the first “overdose prevention centersopened in New York City, in the Manhattan neighborhoods of East Harlem and Washington Heights. City officials have said that at these centers people will be able to bring their medications and use them under the supervision of trained staff members who will provide clean needles, prevent overdoses and offer links to addiction services to those who are interested.

It is a model that has helped reduce drug overdose tragedies in other countries.

“The national overdose epidemic is a five-alarm fire in public health, and we must tackle this crisis along with our fight against COVID,” said the New York City Health Commissioner on Dr Dave Chokshi in a statement. declaration. “Giving people a safe and supportive space will save lives and bring people back from the streets, improving the lives of everyone involved. Overdose prevention centers are a key part of broader harm reduction. “

SOURCES: Scott Krakower, DO, child and adolescent psychiatrist, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY; Mayor’s Office / NYC, press release, November 30, 2021; Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report, December 14, 2021

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