Mass. drug overdose deaths declining
Image | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Massachusetts has reported falling drug overdose death rates after a peak in 2016. The dots represent projected monthly deaths over the past 12 months, and the solid line the number of reported deaths.
Drug overdose deaths across Massachusetts fell by a projected 2.8% last year, showing an improvement mirroring what took place nationally.
Data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention show a 5.1% national drop in overdose deaths following years of steady inclines.
For Massachusetts, the data traces improving numbers from 2018 for opioid-related deaths specifically, which fell by less than 1% last year, and 3.2% in the past two years, since peaking in 2016 at 2,100 confirmed deaths. That 2016 number tripled the count of opioid deaths in the state from a decade prior.
The sharp rise was due in large part to over-prescribing of opioid painkillers and the spread of fentanyl, an opioid far stronger than heroin, for which it can be mistaken. The more recent drop has been attributed tighter prescription monitoring, the use of the antidote Narcan and other steps.
The total overdose number for all drugs in Massachusetts peaked in 2016 at 2,357. In the two years since, that number has fallen by 3.7%, according to the latest CDC figures predicting full-year numbers based on preliminary estimates.
Nationally, drug overdose deaths peaked in 2017 at 72,224.
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