Overdose deaths falling, but crisis response efforts continue
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Fatal drug overdoses, which fell in the U.S. last year for the first time since before the pandemic, continue to decline, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why it matters: Overdoses kill more than 100,000 people a year, but the number appears to be dropping rapidly.
- The most recent CDC data, which ends in April, shows that the number of overdose deaths nationwide is falling faster than the 3% decrease between 2022 and 2023.
By the numbers: CDC data looks at rolling totals over 12-month periods.
- In the 12 months ending in April, there was a 10% decline from the same period a year before.
- In Michigan, specifically, that decline was steeper: 18%.
State of play: Public health experts are stunned by how dramatically deaths are falling, NPR reports.
- "This is going to be the best year we've had since all of this started," Keith Humphreys, a drug policy researcher at Stanford, told NPR.
Between the lines: More research is needed to determine what's driving the decline in deaths, but experts have theories.
- Naloxone, which reverses most opioid overdoses, is more widely available, and more drug users carry the medication with them for safety.
Zoom in: The opioid overdose crisis is still urgent, including in Detroit. City officials earlier this month launched a quick-response team that helps opioid overdose survivors access substance use treatment right after emergency medical services.
- Last year, 430 people died from opioid overdoses in Detroit — 15% of the total in Michigan, according to the city.
How it works: The response team staffed by nonprofit Face Addiction Now will follow up with Detroiters who have been treated with potential opioid overdoses by the Detroit Fire Department's paramedics. The response team will either visit the EMS call location or visit the patient at home if they accepted transport to the hospital.
- The responders will help them enter treatment if they agree to it and connect to other social services.
- Homelessness service providers can also reach out to the responders, or visits can be requested online.
What they're saying: "I know the pain and despair that comes with addiction, and I also know with the right people in your corner and compassion and removing stigma, how it can help somebody transform their lives," Thomas Hunter, program manager with Face Addiction Now, said during a press conference this month.