Two-thirds of US overdose deaths attributable to fentanyl

Two-thirds of an estimated 108,174 overdose deaths in the United States in the 12 months ending in April 2022 can be attributed to synthetic opioids, specifically illicitly manufactured fentanyl, researchers reported in MMWR.

Jessica Bitting, MS, of the division of overdose prevention at CDC, and colleagues sought to better understand monthly trends in drug overdose deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl, an opioid analgesic analogue.

Bitting and colleagues assessed overdose death data from the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System to examine monthly frequencies of overdose deaths involving para-fluorofentanyl.

Para-fluorofentanyl was involved in 1,658 (2.6%) of 64,915 overdose deaths from June 2020 to July 2021. The number of para-fluorofentanyl-involved deaths increased by 455.3% from 253 deaths from July to December 2020, to 1,405 deaths from January to July 2021.

“Because data on potency are limited, it is unclear whether para-fluorofentanyl poses a higher risk than does fentanyl alone,” the authors wrote. “However, access to and timely administration of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses, as well as ensuring access to substance use prevention and treatment services, including distribution of fentanyl test strips, is crucial to prevent para-fluorofentanyl overdose deaths."