Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'It Looks Like There's A Light At The End Of The Tunnel': Overdose Deaths Drop For First Time Since 1990
The New York Times: Drug Overdose Deaths Drop In U.S. For First Time Since 1990
Three decades of ever-escalating deaths from drug overdoses in the United States may have come to an end, according to preliminary government data made public Wednesday. Total drug overdose deaths in America declined by around 5 percent last year, the first drop since 1990. The decline was due almost entirely to a dip in deaths from prescription opioid painkillers, the medicines that set off the epidemic of addiction that has lasted nearly two decades. Fatal overdoses involving other drugs, particularly fentanyl and methamphetamine, continued to rise. (Goodnough, Katz and Sanger-Katz, 7/17)
The Associated Press: Number Of US Overdose Deaths Appears To Be Falling
The numbers were celebrated by the U.S. secretary of health and human services. "Lives are being saved, and we're beginning to win the fight against this crisis," Alex Azar wrote in a tweet. But the overdose death rate is still about seven times higher than it was a generation ago. "We're still in a pretty sad situation that we need to address," said Rebecca Haffajee, a University of Michigan researcher. (7/17)
The Washington Post: Drug Overdoses Fell Significantly In 2018 For First Time In Decades, Provisional CDC Data Show
“Since the epidemic started, we’ve had a few years where deaths were flat or barely grew year on year, but this is the first time they’ve actually declined,” said Stanford University professor Keith Humphreys, a former senior policy adviser at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Losing nearly 70,000 people a year of course still means we’re in the midst of a public health disaster, but this is the first real sign of hope we’ve had that we might be turning the corner.” (Ingraham, 7/17)
CNN: US Drug Overdose Deaths Fell Slightly In 2018
"There's light at the end of the tunnel," Kolodny said, but he added, "there's certainly nothing to celebrate because even with the slight reduction we're still experiencing an enormous death toll." Additionally, "when you look at the national data, it masks what's happening on a regional level and on a state level," he said. For instance, the mortality rate from synthetic opioids in 28 states more than doubled every two years from 1999 to 2016, according to a study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open in February. (Tinker, Howard and Gumbrecht, 7/17)
Vox: Opioid Epidemic: Overdose Deaths May Have Fallen In 2018. But There’s A Catch.
Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, are still trending up, based on the preliminary CDC data: Synthetic opioid overdose deaths excluding methadone were estimated at nearly 32,000 in 2018, up from more than 29,000 in 2017. Deaths linked to cocaine and psychostimulants, like meth, also increased. Most of the drop in overdose deaths is linked to a fall in opioid painkiller deaths, as prescriptions to those drugs also fall. But if other overdose deaths continue to go up, they could overcome any drop in painkiller deaths. (Lopez, 7/17)
Cincinnati Enquirer: Overdose Deaths Drop In Ohio, United States, New CDC Estimates Show
Estimates show that Ohio's accidental overdose deaths will number 4,002 in 2018, down from 5,135 in 2017, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday. That's about a 22 percent drop. The federal public health agency released the estimates for 2018 on Wednesday, noting that the counts are predicted, rather than actual, because not every county has turned in all its data. (DeMio, 7/17)
