Fentanyl overdoses are seeing a dramatic rise in the US, the report says

The number of fatal fentanyl overdoses skyrocketed between 2016 and 2021, according to a disturbing new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report released on Wednesday found that 69,943 died from a fentanyl-induced overdose in 2021, at a rate of 21.6. That’s a significant increase from 2016, when 18,499 died from a fentanyl overdose at a rate of 5.7.

According to CNN, the Centers for Disease Control typically reports “overdose data by broader drug categories.”

“Fentanyl, for example, is grouped with other synthetic opioids such as tramadol and nitazenes. But for Wednesday’s report, the researchers took a closer look at the specific drugs listed on death certificates for people who died from drug overdoses, highlighting demographic differences,” CNN reported.

Caleb Banta-Green, a research professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Addiction, Drug & Alcohol Institute, told CNN that identifying the drug that caused the overdose is crucial for researchers.

“We need to know exactly what people are dying of so we know what services they need to stay alive,” Banta-Green said.

The report also found an increase in fatal overdoses for several other drugs.

“The age-adjusted rate of fentanyl overdose deaths more than tripled over the study period, from 5.7 per 100,000 standard population in 2016 to 21.6 in 2021, with an increase of 55.0% from 2019 (11.2 ) to 2020 (17.4) and a 24.1% increase from 2020 to 2021 (21.6). The rate of methamphetamine-related drug overdose deaths has more than quadrupled from 2.1 in 2016 to 9.6 in 2021,” the CDC reported. The rate of cocaine-related drug overdose deaths has more than doubled from 3.5 in 2016 to 7.9 per 100,000 in 2021. The rate of heroin-related drug overdose deaths decreased by 40.8%, from 4.9 in 2016 to 2.9 in 2021, although this was not statistically significant. The rate of oxycodone-related drug overdose deaths decreased by 21.0%, from 1.9 in 2016 to 1.5 in 2021.”

“In 2021, the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths was highest for fentanyl-related deaths (21.6 per 100,000 standard population), followed by methamphetamine (9.6), cocaine (7.9), heroin (2nd ,9) and oxycodone (1,5). The patterns were similar when stratified by gender,” the report continued.

The CDC said it “analyzed verbatim text from National Vital Statistics System mortality data for deaths that occurred in the United States among U.S. citizens.”

“From 2016 to 2021, age-adjusted fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine drug overdose death rates increased, while oxycodone drug overdose death rates decreased,” the CDC reported. “In 2021, age-adjusted death rates for men were higher than rates for women for all drugs analyzed. Among those aged 25 to 64, fentanyl had the highest rate of drug overdose deaths; Although a similar pattern was observed in people aged 0 to 24 years and 65 years and over, no significant differences between the rates were found. Fentanyl was also the most common opioid or stimulant implicated in drug overdose deaths in the ethnic and Hispanic groups analyzed.”

As CNN said: “[p]Harmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid intended to help patients, such as cancer patients, manage severe pain.”

“It is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and is typically prescribed in the form of skin patches or lozenges. But recent cases of fentanyl-related harm, overdoses, and deaths in the United States are related to illicitly manufactured fentanyl, according to the CDC,” CNN reported.