United States: The United States experienced a decline in drug overdose fatalities for the first time since COVID-19 emerged, based on recent federal data released early on Thursday.
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Dr. Aitzaz Munir, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and associate program director for the Rutgers Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, expressed astonishment about the reduction in overdose death rates yet considered this positive data.
The experts indicated the drop in overdose death rate as a “surprising” outcome to him; however, it was definitely a positive sign, ABC News reported.
What are the experts stating?
The expert believes this change in drug fatality rates stems from a more “aggressive approach” to drug condition treatment facilities that provide expanded accessibility to treatment options.
Wider availability of naloxone overdose reversal medication combined with drug checking supplies such as fentanyl test strips forms a part of the strategy to reduce opioid deaths.
“So, there might be a better response in places where these treatments are available, and patients are getting those treatments,” Munir added.
“Treatment for addiction works, and if we are seeing this result that there’s a decrease in death rates, that is because of the treatment the patients are getting,” he continued.
According to Professor Dr. Magadelna Cerdá of New York University Grossman School of Medicine’s Center for opioid epidemiology and Policy Division of Population Health, more fentanyl supplies dried up throughout 2018, ABC News reported.
Research has shown that Fentanyl is responsible for higher overdose mortality numbers throughout recent years.
The extreme power of Fentanyl compared to heroin exceeds 50:1 while its potency against morphine reaches 100:1, and deadly amounts can appear in even tiny doses, according to the CDC data.
She indicated to US Drug Enforcement Agency officials during her last annual meeting that fentanyl pills seized by agents showed decreasing potency levels, possibly responsible for the reported decline.
“As the drug supply has become more saturated with fentanyl, good drug supply may be becoming more stable, and people may be just developing a tolerance for fentanyl,” Cerdá added.
The United States death rate analysis exhibited the largest number of fatalities coming from West Virginia at 81.9 per 100,000 people, whereas Nebraska experienced the lowest rate at 9.0 per 100,000 people.
The report found that West Virginia was the state with the highest rate at 81.9 deaths per 100,000, while Nebraska had the lowest rate at 9.0 deaths per 100,000.