Overdose deaths are falling, but not in Iowa
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Overdose deaths are rapidly declining nationwide, but Iowa is an exception, according to preliminary CDC data.
Why it matters: Iowa is the sole Midwestern state with increasing overdose deaths, while others are decreasing, and current laws impede officials' ability to save lives.
- Health officials in Iowa, for example, cannot provide fentanyl test strips, because state law classifies them as illegal drug paraphernalia.
Zoom in: Iowa had between 341 and 400 overdose deaths from 2000 to 2022, according to final CDC data.
- The most recent CDC data, ending in April, predicts a 1% increase in overdose deaths in Iowa, from 449 in 2023 to 454 this year.
Zoom out: Nationally, overdoses claimed over 100,000 lives annually, with a 10% decline during the same period ending in April.
- Most states have changed paraphernalia laws to decriminalize test strips, allowing users to find out whether their drugs contain fentanyl, the trade publication Governing.com reported in January.
- Only Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, North Dakota and Texas prohibit them, per the report.
What they're saying: Public health experts are stunned by the dramatic decrease in deaths and say more data and research are needed to determine the cause, NPR reports.
- Some believe the increased availability and affordability of medical treatments for fentanyl and the broader distribution of naloxone, an overdose-reversal medication, are behind the numbers.
Meanwhile, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began providing naloxone in schools in 2022.
- And, last year, the department launched a fentanyl awareness campaign in response to overdose deaths.
Between the lines: Decriminalizing fentanyl test strips and allowing programs to provide clean needles to users could save more lives, Gabbie Ruggiero, a program planner with Polk County Behavioral Health and Disability Services, said in a new podcast.
- Polk County Health Department is among the medical providers urging lawmakers to decriminalize test strips. Spokesperson Addie Olson tells Axios that the department will likely continue to lobby for the change in the upcoming year.
The intrigue: HHS on Monday ended its Tele-Naloxone program, which since 2019 delivered the drug for free to Iowans worried about an opioid-related overdose.
- The drug is available over the counter, and the department is directing people to other state programs or community organizations that distribute the drug.