CDC Reports Record High Overdose Deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) this week released provisional figures finding that drug overdose deaths passed for the first time 100,000 during a 12-month period from April 2020-April 2021, representing an increase of nearly 30 percent from the previous year. In California, a nearly 48 percent increase was realized during the same 12-month period.

Overdose deaths slightly increased throughout 2019, though deaths have increased significantly since then. The CDC notes that financial, social, mental health, and other difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to blame for the sharp increase in overdose deaths. Most of the overdose deaths were caused by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

Additional information and provisional figures are available here.