MA Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths Fall Nearly 11% in First 6 Months of 2019

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

GoLocalWorcester News Team

MA opioid-related overdose deaths falls nearly 11 % in first 6 months of 2019

Opioid-Related overdose deaths in Massachusetts fell nearly 11 percent in the first six months of 2019 compared to the first six months of 2018, according to data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Wednesday.

Over the first six months of 2019, there were 938 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts or 112 fewer than the 1,050 deaths between January and June of 2018

“Despite the battle, we continue to fight against fentanyl’s presence in Massachusetts, the overall decrease in the first half of this year marks continued progress in decreasing opioid-related overdose deaths. We were pleased to work with our colleagues in the Legislature to invest more than $246 million this year in prevention, treatment, recovery and education solutions to the opioid epidemic and remain committed to working with all levels of law enforcement on removing fentanyl from Massachusetts communities,” said Governor Charlie Baker.

The 2018 opioid-related overdose death rate also fell an estimated 4 percent from 2016 - to 29.4 per 100,000 people from 30.5 per 100,000 people.

“We are determined to build on the progress we have made and bring hope to families and communities across Massachusetts who are struggling with the impact of opioid addiction. Today’s report signals that we are headed in the right direction,” said Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH.

Presence of Fentanyl Rises

The decrease comes as the presence of fentanyl has risen.

According to the report, in the first quarter of 2019, fentanyl was present in 92 percent of opioid-related overdose deaths where there was a toxicology screen.

In 2018, fentanyl was present in 89 percent of opioid-related overdose deaths where there was a toxicology screen.

Other Report Findings

Among other findings of the latest opioid report are:

Since 2017, the presence of amphetamines has been increasing. In the first quarter of 2019 it was present in about 8 percent of opioid-related overdose deaths where there was a toxicology screen.
The percent of heroin or likely heroin present in opioid-related overdose deaths where there was a toxicology screen has been declining since 2016 and fell to 30 percent in the first quarter of 2019.
The percentage of prescription opioids present in opioid-related overdose deaths where there was a toxicology screen trended downward from 2014 through 2016 and has remained stable since then. In the first quarter of 2019, approximately 15 percent of opioid-related overdose deaths had prescription opioids present in toxicology.
In the second quarter of 2019 there were just over 515,000 Schedule II opioid prescriptions reported to the Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program (MassPAT); this is a 39 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2015 (n = 841,990 Schedule II opioid prescriptions).
In the second quarter of 2019, registered MassPAT providers conducted more than 2 million searches, which represented an increase of approximately 200,000 searches since the previous quarter.
Just over 236,000 individuals in Massachusetts received prescriptions for Schedule II opioids in the second quarter of 2019; this is nearly a 40 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2015 (n=390,532).
In the first three months of 2019, the greatest number of suspected opioid-related overdoses treated by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) continued to be among males aged 25-34, accounting for 24 percent of opioid-related incidents with a known age and gender.