Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Ohio will see its first drop in overdose deaths since the opioid epidemic started, if early national estimates are correct (Source: “Ohio Likely to See First Overdose Death Drop Ever, CDC Estimates,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 17, 2019).
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 (CDC) reported July 17. That’s about a 22% drop.
The CDC released the estimates for 2018, noting that the counts are predicted, rather than actual, because not every county has turned in all its data.
In 2017, the United States saw 70,237 accidental drug overdose deaths. The CDC’s data shows a 5.1% total drop in the deaths nationwide from 2017 to 2018. Ohio suffered the second-highest overdose death rate in the country in 2017, behind only West Virginia. The main culprit has been the synthetic opiate fentanyl for the past few years.