PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia health officials are still calculating the number of fatal drug overdoses in the city in 2021, but a deep look into a sample of data collected on the people who died shows that fentanyl continues to be the No. 1 killer, it is found in a greater variety of illegal drugs.
Most of the findings in the Department of Public Health’s annual study of overdose deaths follow trends that started before the pandemic. About three times as many men as women died of overdoses, said Zoe Saslow, the administrator of the fatality review.
The percentage of African Americans who die of overdoses — climbing since 2018 — hit its highest point yet in 2021, accounting for nearly two-thirds of victims, she said.
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And now that fentanyl contamination has moved beyond opioids, it has been found in a greater variety of illegal drugs, said Saslow.
“We see lots of people purchasing counterfeit prescription opioids and then dying with fentanyl in their system and being unaware of fentanyl contamination in pills they buy on the street,” Saslow said.
“We see much more poly-substance use so we see people using multiple drugs and people continue to die from stimulants as well so it’s not just opioids that people are fatally overdosing on.”
One new trend Saslow identified is that the age group most afflicted in the last year was 50 to 59. In the year 2020, it was the 30 to 39 group. The cause is unclear.
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The city does intensive studies of a small but representative sample of overdose deaths to help set policy to address the issues. Saslow says the data suggests the need for more low-barrier access to harm reduction, such as fentanyl test strips and naloxone.
Mayor Jim Kenney decriminalized fentanyl test strips as a result of last year’s report. This year, Saslow says, the city plans to provide low-barrier access to the strips, and to naloxone, through “public health vending machines,” where they will be available for free without having to interact with a provider.
The Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet determined the total number of fatal overdoses for 2021, but it is expected to be similar to last year’s figure of more than 1,200.
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