Fentanyl deaths in L.A. County soared 1,280% between 2016 and 2021, report finds
2 years ago

Fentanyl deaths in L.A. County soared 1,280% between 2016 and 2021, report finds

LA Times  

The deadly toll from fentanyl comes as no surprise to Los Angeles County physicians and advocates who have been trying to save lives in hospitals and on the streets. But the potency of fentanyl can also jeopardize longtime users of illegal drugs, said Dr. Gary Tsai, director of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Control division at the L.A. County Department of Public Health. “Everyone is potentially at risk.” Emergency room visits and hospitalizations tied to fentanyl overdoses also surged in L.A. County in recent years, but not to the same degree as overdose deaths from the drug. “Frankly, had they been successful, we would not be standing here today.” Tsai said the county also plans to roll out a campaign to educate the public about the risks of fentanyl, expand naloxone access and ensure that more people can get medications to assist with addiction treatment. Tsai said county officials had participated in “early discussions with the state” about the idea and that having a working group that includes law enforcement could be critical in moving forward with supervised sites.

Health Public Health Deaths Los Angeles County Officials Public Group County Officials Fentanyl Overdoses Naloxone Narcan Tsai Report Finds Fentanyl Overdoses  report  finds  naloxone  deaths  group  officials  soared  la  public  county  health  2016  2021  overdoses  fentanyl  1280

History of this topic

Fentanyl fuels record homeless deaths in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland
3 days, 18 hours ago

Fentanyl fuels record homeless deaths in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — Fentanyl fueled a record number of homeless deaths last year in Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, according to an annual county report released Friday that officials described as showing the peak of the fentanyl crisis in the area. “The devastating toll fentanyl is taking on our community is starkly apparent in this report and it is …

Urgent CDC warning as new drug carfentanil 100 times more deadly than fentanyl kills hundreds in 37 states
2 weeks, 4 days ago

Urgent CDC warning as new drug carfentanil 100 times more deadly than fentanyl kills hundreds in 37 states

Daily Mail  

Health officials are warning about a drug 100 times more potent than fentanyl that has caused deaths in 37 states in recent years. There were 513 overdoses from carfentanil between January 2021 and June 2024, hitting states like Florida and West Virginia the hardest, according to a CDC report published today. The CDC report included data from January 2023 to …

'Historic' drop in U.S. overdose deaths accelerates as fentanyl crisis eases
1 month, 1 week ago

'Historic' drop in U.S. overdose deaths accelerates as fentanyl crisis eases

NPR  

'Historic' drop in U.S. overdose deaths accelerates as fentanyl crisis eases toggle caption Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America Street drug deaths in the U.S. are dropping at the fastest rate ever seen, according to a new report issued on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health officials say the drop translates into more than 16,000 lives …

Deaths from drug overdoses plateaued in L.A. County in 2023 after years of increases
5 months ago

Deaths from drug overdoses plateaued in L.A. County in 2023 after years of increases

LA Times  

Sandra Mims, a community health worker with Community Health Project L.A., puts out boxes of naloxone spray during an event at MacArthur Park. Deaths from drug overdoses and poisoning reached a plateau last year in Los Angeles County — the first time in a decade that such fatalities had not continued a year-over-year rise, public health officials said. Across L.A. …

Editorial: L.A., we’ve got to talk about your meth problem
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Editorial: L.A., we’ve got to talk about your meth problem

LA Times  

Dr. Siddarth Puri, an addiction psychiatrist, center, and nurse practitioner Marie Eugenio, right, from LAC+USC Medical Center meet with a participant in contingency management, a treatment approach that offers rewards for avoiding drug use, at Skid Row Community ReFresh Spot in June 2022. Meth rarely matches fentanyl’s presence in news stories, aside from sporadic busts such as the story last …

Drug overdose deaths in the US decreased in 2023, for the first time in five years
7 months, 1 week ago

Drug overdose deaths in the US decreased in 2023, for the first time in five years

CNN  

CNN — After a steep rise during the Covid-19 pandemic, preliminary data shows that drug overdose deaths in the United States ticked down in 2023 for the first time in five years. “This progress over the last 12 months should make us want to reinvigorate our efforts knowing that our strategies are making a difference,” CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. …

Deadly overdoses stopped surging among L.A. County homeless people. Narcan could be why
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Deadly overdoses stopped surging among L.A. County homeless people. Narcan could be why

LA Times  

Registered nurse Linda Leimer with the L.A. County Department of Health Services, left, hands Narcan nasal spray to a man in Van Nuys in 2022. Now a newly released report shows that the death rate from overdoses stopped rising among unhoused people in the county in 2022 — the year L.A. County was stepping up its efforts to save lives. …

How L.A. County is trying to remake addiction treatment — no more ‘business as usual’
8 months ago

How L.A. County is trying to remake addiction treatment — no more ‘business as usual’

LA Times  

Brandon Fernandez, chief executive of CRI-Help, meets with staff in North Hollywood. If someone leaves treatment and resumes using drugs the same way they were before, “that could very well look like them dying.” “So are we going to be willing to do something different?” “Things can’t be business as usual anymore,” CRI-Help Chief Executive Brandon Fernandez told his staff …

Portland, Oregon, is in a state of emergency over fentanyl
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Portland, Oregon, is in a state of emergency over fentanyl

CNN  

Portland, Oregon CNN — Biking in one of the West Coast’s biggest cities, police Officer Donny Mathew spotted something out of the corner of his eye. “Our country and our state have never seen a drug this deadly and addictive, and all are grappling with how to respond,” Kotek said in a news release in late January, announcing Portland’s fentanyl …

Some D.A.s are fighting fentanyl with murder charges. Why San Francisco will join them
9 months, 4 weeks ago

Some D.A.s are fighting fentanyl with murder charges. Why San Francisco will join them

LA Times  

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, right, with Dist. In an October statement announcing the initiative, Breed said people selling the synthetic opioid are “on notice that pushing this drug could lead to homicide charges.” Jenkins said the effort would make it easier to hold dealers “accountable for the true dangerousness of their conduct.” It’s a remarkable shift in rhetoric and …

More people die after smoking drugs than injecting them, US study finds
10 months, 1 week ago

More people die after smoking drugs than injecting them, US study finds

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Smoking has surpassed injecting as the most common way of taking drugs in U.S. overdose deaths, a new government study suggests. Some early research has suggested that smoking fentanyl is somewhat less deadly than injecting it, and any reduction in injection-related overdose deaths is a positive, said the study’s lead author, Lauren Tanz. But “both injection and …

Fentanyl epidemic reaches CONGRESS: Capitol Hill staffers given 600 free doses of live-saving medication naloxone to prevent overdoses as drug wave sweeps Washington
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Fentanyl epidemic reaches CONGRESS: Capitol Hill staffers given 600 free doses of live-saving medication naloxone to prevent overdoses as drug wave sweeps Washington

Daily Mail  

Naloxone, an overdose reversal medication, was distributed at the Capitol Capitol Hill staffers were given free samples of the life-saving drug naloxone as the deadly fentanyl epidemic continues to hit Washington, D.C., particularly hard. One staffer, Caty Payette, posted on X that free naloxone kits were being distributed Thursday Voices for Awareness set up a table in a Senate office …

‘It’s absolutely heartbreaking’: Fentanyl is officially Los Angeles County’s deadliest drug
1 year ago

‘It’s absolutely heartbreaking’: Fentanyl is officially Los Angeles County’s deadliest drug

LA Times  

In 2022, fentanyl was linked to more overdose deaths in L.A. County than meth for the first time in recent years. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” said Amanda Cowan, executive director of Community Health Project Los Angeles, which provides services to people who use drugs. “In the case of race/ethnicity, Black people account for 8% of the population, and disproportionately accounted for …

What's fentanyl, the opioid at the centre of Biden-Xi talks, which led to 70,000 deaths in US?
1 year, 1 month ago

What's fentanyl, the opioid at the centre of Biden-Xi talks, which led to 70,000 deaths in US?

Firstpost  

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more so than heroin. On the sidelines of the APEC Summit, US leader Biden and China’s Xi Jinping agreed that Beijing would take action to stop the influx of fentanyl, that killed 70,000 people in the US last year On Wednesday, US president Joe …

Portland police are investigating nearly a dozen fentanyl overdoses involving children, with 5 fatal
1 year, 2 months ago

Portland police are investigating nearly a dozen fentanyl overdoses involving children, with 5 fatal

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — Nearly a dozen children, including a 1-year-old, have overdosed on fentanyl since June in Portland, Oregon, its police bureau said Thursday, intensifying alarm in a city like so many others that has struggled to address the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history. A 1-year-old, 2-year-old, 5-year-old and two 15-year-olds are among the dead, the Portland Police Bureau …

Homeless people fight to save lives, and stay alive, as L.A.’s fentanyl crisis worsens
1 year, 6 months ago

Homeless people fight to save lives, and stay alive, as L.A.’s fentanyl crisis worsens

LA Times  

Next to a row of tents covered with blue tarps on Skid Row, Jasmine Paredes watched a friend scribble a message on a lamppost with a pink Sharpie: L.A. — Fenty is #1 killa — may God help us all. I later crawled across the street to my friend’s tent and slept for another two days.” The Sidewalk Project — …

Fentanyl fuels string of deadly weekend overdoses in Portland, Oregon
1 year, 7 months ago

Fentanyl fuels string of deadly weekend overdoses in Portland, Oregon

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — A series of suspected drug overdoses left at least eight people dead over the weekend in Portland, Oregon, according to the city’s police bureau. Like many states around the country, Oregon in recent years has grappled with a surge in opioid overdose deaths fueled by fentanyl, a highly addictive and potentially lethal drug. In Multnomah County, home …

Fentanyl overdoses contribute to surge in L.A. County homeless deaths
1 year, 7 months ago

Fentanyl overdoses contribute to surge in L.A. County homeless deaths

LA Times  

A devastating surge in drug overdoses drove up deaths among unhoused people in Los Angeles County in recent years, along with the rising toll of traffic collisions and homicides, according to a public health department report released Friday. The leading cause of death was drug overdoses, which made up more than a third of deaths among homeless people in L.A. …

Sheriff’s Dept. program to track presence of flesh-eating street drug in Los Angeles
1 year, 7 months ago

Sheriff’s Dept. program to track presence of flesh-eating street drug in Los Angeles

LA Times  

A man smokes fentanyl mixed with methamphetamine in an alley in Los Angeles in August. “In the greater Los Angeles area we are seeing xylazine as an additive within fake fentanyl pills,” said Nicole Nishida, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Amid troubling signs that a dangerous sedative known as “tranq” has spread …

Fentanyl-related deaths among children increased more than 30-fold between 2013 and 2021
1 year, 7 months ago

Fentanyl-related deaths among children increased more than 30-fold between 2013 and 2021

CNN  

CNN — Fatal overdoses involving fentanyl have surged in recent years in the US and new research shows that deaths among children have increased significantly, mirroring trends among adults. There were about 1,550 pediatric deaths from fentanyl in 2021 – over 30 times more than in 2013, when the wave of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids started in the US. …

Total overdose: Drug-related deaths in San Francisco up by 41% in three months
1 year, 7 months ago

Total overdose: Drug-related deaths in San Francisco up by 41% in three months

Firstpost  

200 persons died of overdoses in the city in the last three months, up from 142 in the same period last year Drug-related deaths in San Francisco have increased by 41 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, with one person dying of an accidental overdose every 10 hours, reported The Guardian. According to the reports by San Francisco’s …

Startling increase found in deaths of Orange County homeless people. Drugs are the main cause
1 year, 9 months ago

Startling increase found in deaths of Orange County homeless people. Drugs are the main cause

LA Times  

A man holds a naloxone kit, used to reverse opioid overdoses. More homeless people in Orange County are dying each year, and accidental drug overdoses involving fentanyl are a leading reason why, according to a new county report. Within a 10-year span, the report found, the number of deaths of people experiencing homelessness more than quadrupled, with 395 deaths recorded …

New street drug is surfacing, threatening to make California’s overdose crisis worse
1 year, 10 months ago

New street drug is surfacing, threatening to make California’s overdose crisis worse

LA Times  

Deb Walker of Chester, Vt., lost daughter Brooke Goodwin, 23, to an overdose involving xylazine in 2021. Traces of xylazine, commonly known as “tranq,” have been found to have contributed to a small number of overdose deaths in San Francisco and Los Angeles, indicating the drug commonly used by veterinarians to tranquilize animals has already started to make its way …

L.A. students will be able to carry Narcan in schools under updated policy
1 year, 10 months ago

L.A. students will be able to carry Narcan in schools under updated policy

LA Times  

Students will be able to carry Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose, in Los Angeles Unified schools under a soon-to-be-updated policy. Carvalho wrote to board members Tuesday that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health “supports a clarification” in L.A. Unified policy “that would allow students to be able to carry Narcan in schools,” and …

Fentanyl fuels record number of homeless deaths in the Seattle area
1 year, 11 months ago

Fentanyl fuels record number of homeless deaths in the Seattle area

LA Times  

A record 310 homeless people died in the Seattle area last year, highlighting the struggle to house thousands of people living on the region’s streets. A record 310 homeless people died in the Seattle area last year, highlighting the region’s struggle to house the thousands of people living on its streets. Last year, the public health agency for Seattle and …

As fentanyl overdose deaths keep rising, efforts to reverse trend meet liability fears
1 year, 11 months ago

As fentanyl overdose deaths keep rising, efforts to reverse trend meet liability fears

LA Times  

As fentanyl overdose deaths rise unabated, California is at the forefront of the fight to reverse the grim trend. In a perfect world, she’d erect stands or boxes containing naloxone — she likened them to “Little Free Library” boxes, but with opioid reversal medication instead of tattered paperbacks — in homeless encampments and other places where drug users congregate. A …

US says it seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every American
2 years ago

US says it seized enough fentanyl in 2022 to kill every American

Raw Story  

US law enforcement seized more than enough fentanyl to kill all Americans in 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday, underscoring the deep threat of the deadly man-made opioid. The DEA said it had captured 50.6 million fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder during the year, calling it the equivalent of "more than 379 …

Fentanyl’s scourge evident on the streets of Los Angeles
2 years ago

Fentanyl’s scourge evident on the streets of Los Angeles

Al Jazeera  

For too many people strung out on the drug, the sleep that follows a fentanyl hit could be permanent. The highly addictive and potentially lethal drug has become a scourge across the United States and is taking a toll on the growing number of people living on the streets of Los Angeles. Two-thirds of the 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021 …

Created to treat intense pain, highly addictive fentanyl is now a scourge on the streets of cities like Los Angeles
2 years ago

Created to treat intense pain, highly addictive fentanyl is now a scourge on the streets of cities like Los Angeles

ABC  

In a filthy alley behind a Los Angeles doughnut shop, Ryan Smith convulsed in the grips of a fentanyl high — lurching from moments of slumber to bouts of violent shivering on a warm summer day. Key points: Fentanyl addiction has skyrocketed across the United States, named the deadliest drug in the nation by health officials The synthetic opioid was …

As fentanyl drives overdose deaths, mistaken beliefs persist
2 years, 1 month ago

As fentanyl drives overdose deaths, mistaken beliefs persist

Associated Press  

Lillianna Alfaro was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in December 2020. “I felt bad because it was something I could not have warned her about, because I didn’t know.” The drug that killed her daughter was rare a …

Fentanyl, other synthetic opioids are driving deadliest overdose crisis in the U.S.
2 years, 1 month ago

Fentanyl, other synthetic opioids are driving deadliest overdose crisis in the U.S.

LA Times  

Portraits of fentanyl victims at an exhibit at the Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters in Arlington, Va. Lillianna Alfaro was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in December 2020. “Two years ago, I knew nothing about this,” said Holly Groelle, …

L.A. County libraries could soon supply naloxone for reversing overdoses
2 years, 2 months ago

L.A. County libraries could soon supply naloxone for reversing overdoses

LA Times  

Los Angeles County libraries could supply the overdose reversal drug naloxone and teach librarians how to administer the lifesaving medication under a proposal unanimously approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors. Along with supplying and administering doses of naloxone, often sold as a nasal spray under the brand name Narcan, the motion also directs county health officials to explore making …

Opioid crisis costs US $1.5TRILLION in 2020 as fentanyl use rocketed during the pandemic
2 years, 2 months ago

Opioid crisis costs US $1.5TRILLION in 2020 as fentanyl use rocketed during the pandemic

Daily Mail  

The devastating opioid epidemic in the US has cost the government nearly $1.5trillion in 2020 alone after being exacerbated by the Covid pandemic and rise of fentanyl, new figures show. In Wisconsin, for instance, synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, were identified in 91 per cent of opioid overdose deaths and 73 per cent of all drug overdose deaths over the last …

Police say fentanyl killed LA student, 6 others overdosed
2 years, 3 months ago

Police say fentanyl killed LA student, 6 others overdosed

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — At least seven Los Angeles teenagers have overdosed on pills likely laced with fentanyl over the past month, including a 15-year-old girl who died on a high school campus, authorities said. The most recent overdose occurred Saturday, and Los Angeles police were investigating whether those pills are related to the Sept. 13 fatal overdose of Melanie Ramos …

Fentanyl is the most dangerous drug in America – but panic over it isn’t helping
2 years, 4 months ago

Fentanyl is the most dangerous drug in America – but panic over it isn’t helping

The Independent  

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. …

Death rates from drug overdoses hit historic highs in 2020
2 years, 5 months ago

Death rates from drug overdoses hit historic highs in 2020

Daily Mail  

Drug overdose deaths among black and indigenous Americans spiked in 2020 — with a total of 2,400 more being recorded during the first year of Covid compared to the previous 12 months. The report confirms previously published papers, which also showed a spike in drug overdose deaths among Black Americans during the first year of the pandemic. Drug overdose deaths …

Mexico seizes 'historic' half-ton of fentanyl at warehouse
2 years, 5 months ago

Mexico seizes 'historic' half-ton of fentanyl at warehouse

Daily Mail  

Over half-ton of fentanyl was seized at a warehouse in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa, the government announced Thursday. The Mexican army and National Guard carried out an operation into the dealings of the Sinaloa Cartel in Culiacán, Sinaloa, and wound up seizing 543 kilos of fentanyl at a warehouse, the government announced Thursday The Mexican government revealed Thursday …

Rural Florida county shocked by fentanyl deaths over holiday
2 years, 5 months ago

Rural Florida county shocked by fentanyl deaths over holiday

Associated Press  

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A small, largely rural county west of Florida’s capital experienced an unheard-of spike in deadly drug overdoses believed to be caused by fentanyl over the July 4 weekend, with nine people dying in the latest sign that a national crisis is becoming even more far-reaching. The problem has become so acute that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration …

Black Americans bear the Brunt of Fentanyl 'Epidemic' in Washington
2 years, 6 months ago

Black Americans bear the Brunt of Fentanyl 'Epidemic' in Washington

News 18  

Lorando Duncan wears long-sleeved shirts because his arms bear scars he doesn’t like to show: those of the drugs he has been injecting into his veins for decades. “Fentanyl killed a lot of my friends,” he tells AFP beneath a picture of America’s first Black vice president, Kamala Harris, that he has hung in his apartment in Anacostia, one of …

Report: Drug overdose deaths up again in Virginia in 2021
2 years, 6 months ago

Report: Drug overdose deaths up again in Virginia in 2021

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — The number of Virginia drug overdose deaths rose again in 2021, setting a record for a second year in a row, according to a state report. Overdose deaths increased 15% in 2021 from the previous year, to 2,656, The Virginian-Pilot reported Saturday, citing the report from the Virginia Department of Health. The powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl was …

After 3 teens overdose, school districts warn of fentanyl-laced ecstasy pills
2 years, 6 months ago

After 3 teens overdose, school districts warn of fentanyl-laced ecstasy pills

LA Times  

The Los Angeles Unified School District is sounding an alarm about fentanyl-laced ecstasy pills after three high school students overdosed. Three teenage girls were found unconscious in a Los Angeles County home on May 25 after taking ecstasy pills that were contaminated with fentanyl, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a Twitter post this week. Following …

Cops: 500,000 fentanyl pills seized in Arizona traffic stop
2 years, 6 months ago

Cops: 500,000 fentanyl pills seized in Arizona traffic stop

Associated Press  

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Two women were arrested after about 500,000 fentanyl pills were found in an SUV pulled over for speeding on Interstate 10 in Arizona, police said. The increase began in the 1990s with overdoses involving opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and — most recently — illicit fentanyl. Over a …

Three men found dead in downtown L.A. after ingesting fentanyl, police say
2 years, 7 months ago

Three men found dead in downtown L.A. after ingesting fentanyl, police say

LA Times  

A crime scene investigator at the scene of a downtown Los Angeles apartment complex where three men were found dead from a fentanyl overdose Thursday morning. Three men were found dead in a downtown Los Angeles apartment early Thursday after ingesting fentanyl, the latest instance in what officials say is a nationwide epidemic of overdoses and deaths related to the …

L.A. County homeless deaths surged 56% in pandemic’s first year. Overdoses are largely to blame
2 years, 8 months ago

L.A. County homeless deaths surged 56% in pandemic’s first year. Overdoses are largely to blame

LA Times  

From April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, 1,988 deaths of homeless people were reported in L.A. County, including 715 overdose deaths. Deaths of homeless people in Los Angeles County soared by 56% in the year after the start of the pandemic, driven primarily by an increase in overdoses, according to a study published this month. The numbers in L.A. …

Teen fentanyl overdose deaths tripled in last three years, study finds
2 years, 8 months ago

Teen fentanyl overdose deaths tripled in last three years, study finds

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Teen overdose deaths in …

Two California men arrested with enough fentanyl to kill 4.7 million
2 years, 8 months ago

Two California men arrested with enough fentanyl to kill 4.7 million

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors …

Prosecutor: Fentanyl likely killed 5 in Colorado apartment
2 years, 10 months ago

Prosecutor: Fentanyl likely killed 5 in Colorado apartment

Associated Press  

DENVER — Preliminary evidence suggests that five people found dead in an apartment in suburban Denver overdosed on fentanyl while taking what they believed to be cocaine, the district attorney said Monday. Drug tests done at the apartment in Commerce City, about 7 miles northeast of Denver, found an “overwhelming amount” of fentanyl and cocaine, 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian …

US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in pandemic last year
3 years, 5 months ago

US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in pandemic last year

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday. That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase. Methamphetamine is contaminated.” Fentanyl was involved in more than 60% of the overdose deaths …

As opioid overdoses rise in L.A. jails, inmates get access to lifesaving drug
3 years, 6 months ago

As opioid overdoses rise in L.A. jails, inmates get access to lifesaving drug

LA Times  

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department adopts a new approach to dealing with overdoses, which are on the rise, and the widespread use of fentanyl inside the jail system. Dr. Sean Henderson, a physician with the county’s Correctional Health Services, said the time that is saved by giving inmates quick access to the drug can be the difference between life …

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