Drug overdose deaths have risen substantially in the United States and set a new record for deaths in the year ending May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The CDC’s health alert network released a report on Thursday stating that 81,230 deaths from drug overdose had occurred at that time since June 2019.
“This is a worsening of the drug overdose epidemic in the United States and is the largest number of drug overdoses in a 12-month period ever,” the agency said.
The CDC noted that “after decreasing by 4.1% from 2017 to 2018, the number of overdose deaths increased by 18.2% compared to the 12 months ended in June 2019.”
Deaths from drug overdoses were already on the rise before early 2020, but accelerated with the blockade of the COVID-19 pandemic, says the CDC.
Synthetic opioids were the main source of the increase in deaths caused by overdose, the agency continued and that “The number of synthetic opioid deaths over 12 months increased by 38.4% compared to the 12 months ended in June 2019 compared to 12 months concluded in May 2020. “
The CDC recommends expanding the use of naloxone, a drug that treats overdoses during emergencies and that people should take overdose prevention courses.