Drug overdose deaths rise in Utah as national rate declines
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Utah's fatal drug overdose rate increased about 8% from 2022 to 2023, new CDC data shows.
The big picture: The rate fell 4% nationwide during that same time — but notably grew out West and in Alaska.
- The national decline in overdose deaths comes as pandemic-era isolation ebbs and access to life-saving medications like Naloxone grows.
Driving the news: 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.
- Utah's fatal drug overdose rate saw a "non-significant increase," according to the CDC, from 19.8 per 100,000 in 2022 to 21.4 in 2023.
- Alaska, Oregon and Washington also bucked the national trend, reporting major increases.
Zoom in: Utah recorded 606 drug overdose deaths in 2023 — its highest total on record, per a state health department report released in January. Nearly half those deaths involved fentanyl.
- One notable change has been the type of drug people are overdosing on, Megan Broekemeier, with the state Office of the Medical Examiner, said at the time.
- Broekemeier said it's gone from things like prescription drugs and heroin to substances that now involve fentanyl.
Between the lines: A recent report from the California-based specialty lab Millennium Health that conducts drug testing services 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 in pockets of the country the opioid crisis rages on like a relentless wildfire.