Fatal drug overdoses drop in Indiana
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Indiana saw one of the country's biggest year-over-year drops in fatal overdose deaths in 2023, per new CDC data.
Why it matters: Overdose deaths seem to be falling as pandemic-era isolation ebbs and access to life-saving medications like naloxone grows.
The big picture: The fatal drug overdose rate fell 4% nationwide from 2022 to 2023, per new CDC data — but grew notably out West and in Alaska.
- The age-adjusted rate of U.S. fatal drug overdoses fell from 32.6 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 31.3 in 2023, the CDC says.
- The rate for synthetic opioids specifically — including fentanyl — dipped from 22.7 to 22.2.
By the numbers: Indiana's fatal drug overdose rate dropped to 34.2 per 100,000 people in 2023, CDC data shows, down from 41 in 2022.
- That's a drop of nearly 17%, the sixth largest drop nationwide.
Yes, but: Thousands of Hoosiers are still dying from drugs, mostly opioids.
- Preliminary data from the Indiana Department of Health reports 2,089 deaths from any drug in 2023.
What they're saying: "We are still seeing a crisis in our communities," said Cris Henderson, project director of IU's Citizen Opioid Responders program, which teaches people how to use the overdose reversal drug naloxone.
- The roughly 30-minute Citizen Opioid Responders course is online and free to anyone who wants to learn more about the opioid crisis and how to administer naloxone, which is also known by the brand name Narcan.
Zoom out: States like Alaska, Oregon and Washington bucked the national trend, reporting major increases in their fatal OD rates.
Between the lines: A recent report from specialty lab Millennium Health highlighted a "rising tide" of heroin co-use among fentanyl users, as well as fentanyl and stimulant co-use — part of the "fourth wave" of the overdose epidemic.
The bottom line: The broad national data shows a welcome trend, but the opioid crisis rages on in some pockets of the country like a wildfire stubbornly refusing to be snuffed out.