US overdose deaths fell 27% last year, the largest one-year decline ever seen

There were fewer U S drug overdose deaths in than the year before the largest one-year decline ever recorded An estimated people died from overdoses last year according to provisional Centers for Infection Control and Prevention facts published Wednesday That s down from the in The CDC has been collecting comparable evidence for years The previous largest one-year drop was in according to the agency s National Center for Strength Statistics All but two states saw declines last year with Nevada and South Dakota seeing small increases Particular of the biggest drops were in Ohio West Virginia and other states that have been hard-hit in the nation s decades-long overdose epidemic Experts say more research necessities to be done to understand what drove the reduction but they mention several accomplishable factors Among the the majority cited Increased availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone Expanded addiction medication Shifts in how people use drugs The growing impact of billions of dollars in opioid lawsuit settlement money The number of at-risk Americans is shrinking after waves of deaths in older adults and a shift in teens and younger adults away from the drugs that cause the greater part deaths Still annual overdose deaths are higher than they were before the COVID- pandemic In a comment the CDC noted that overdoses are still the leading cause of death for people - years old underscoring the need for ongoing efforts to maintain this progress A few experts worry that the latest decline could be slowed or stopped by reductions in federal funding and the population physical condition workforce or a shift away from the strategies that seem to be working Now is not the time to take the foot off the gas pedal announced Dr Daniel Ciccarone a drug program expert at the University of California San Francisco The provisional numbers are estimates of everyone who died of overdoses in the U S including noncitizens That facts is still being processed and the final numbers can sometimes differ a bit But it s clear that there was a huge drop last year Experts note that there have been past moments when U S overdose deaths seemed to have plateaued or even started to go down only to rise again That happened in But there are reasons to be optimistic Naloxone has become more widely available in part because of the introduction of over-the-counter versions that don t require prescriptions Meanwhile drug manufacturers distributors pharmacy chains and other businesses have settled lawsuits with state and local governments over the painkillers that were a main driver of overdose deaths in the past The deals over the last decade or so have promised about billion over time with most of of it required to be used to fight addiction Another settlement that would be among the largest with members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma agreeing to pay up to billion could be approved this year The money along with federal taxpayer funding is going to a variety of programs including supportive housing and harm reduction efforts such as providing materials to test drugs for fentanyl the biggest driver of overdoses now But what each state will do with that money is right now at issue States can either say We won we can walk away in the wake of the declines or they can use the lawsuit money on naloxone and other efforts mentioned Regina LaBelle a former acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Agenda She now heads an addiction and inhabitants program operation at Georgetown University President Donald Trump s administration views opioids as largely a law enforcement issue and as a reason to step up edge prevention That worries a multitude of citizens fitness leaders and advocates We believe that taking a general wellness approach that seeks to promotion not punish people who use drugs is crucial to ending the overdose problem stated Dr Tamara Olt an Illinois woman whose -year-old son died of a heroin overdose in She is now executive director of Broken No Moore an advocacy organization focused on substance use disorder Olt attributes latest declines to the growing availability of naloxone work to make rehabilitation available and wider awareness of the trouble Kimberly Douglas an Illinois woman whose -year-old son died of an overdose in credited the growing chorus of grieving mothers Eventually people are going to start listening Unfortunately it s taken -plus years