In 2024, U.S. drug overdose deaths have seen a notable decline, particularly driven by a significant drop in fentanyl fatalities. Approximately 80,391 drug-related deaths were reported, a nearly 27% decrease compared to 2023. This positive trend follows a decade of rising deaths, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where numbers exceeded 100,000 annually. However, there are ongoing concerns about potential setbacks due to proposed budget cuts to public health agencies and Medicaid programs, which might undermine the progress achieved thus far in combating the opioid crisis.
"I would characterize this as a historically significant decrease in overdose deaths," said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University School of Public Health epidemiologist who studies overdose trends. "We're really seeing decreases almost across the entire nation at this point."
Though there doesn't seem to be a single variable to attribute to the gains, the drop in overdose deaths comes amid concerns that cuts to federal public health agencies and proposals to cut Medicaid could undercut progress.
An estimated 80,391 people died from drugs in 2024, a decrease of nearly 27 percent from the previous year, according to provisional state data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The progress comes after drug deaths, which had been rising for more than a decade, soared to staggering levels during the coronavirus pandemic, surpassing 100,000 each year starting in 2021.
Collection
[
|
...
]