Nearly 71,000 Americans died of overdoses last year, a record that predates the COVID-19 crisis. It may be even worse this year due to the pandemic.
Nearly 71,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, a new record that predates the COVID-19 crisis, which the White House and many experts believe will drive such deaths even higher.
Preliminary numbers released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the trend is driven by fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids, which accounted for 36,500 overdose deaths. Deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine also are rising., policymakers had hoped overdose deaths would continue to decline, or at least plateau, after 2018 showed a dip for the first time in three decades.
“We got it to stall out a bit. Now we need to grab on again and not let this get away from us,” said Robert Anderson, who oversees death data for the CDC.“We understand that there is an extraordinary amount of work to do, especially now as we are also dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic that could markedly affect our nation’s mental health and risk of substance use,” Giroir said in a statement.
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