NBC News (7/19, Edwards) reports, “From 2019 to 2020, the CDC said, the rate of fatal drug overdoses rose by 30% overall, from 21.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2019 to 28.3 deaths per 100,000 in 2020. Most deaths were due to illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.” The data indicate a disparity in outcomes by ethnicity; the death rate among Black Americans “increased most dramatically,” by 44%, while for “American Indian and Alaska Native populations, the rate increased by 39%.”
Also reporting are the Wall Street Journal (7/19, Wernau, Subscription Publication) and USA Today (7/19, Hassanein).
Related Links:
— “Overdose death rate increased by 30% in 2020, a ‘staggering’ rise ” Erika Edwards, NBC News, July 19, 2022