Details:

Personal Author:
O’Donnell, Julie ; Tanz, Lauren J. ; Gladden, R. Matt ; Davis, Nicole L. ; Bitting, Jessica
O’Donnell, Julie ; Tanz, Lauren J. ; Gladden, R. Matt ; Davis, Nicole L. ; Bitting, Jessica Less -
Corporate Authors:
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (U.S.) ; Div. of Overdose Prevention ; National Network of Public Health Institutes
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (U.S.) ; Div. of Overdose Prevention ; National Network of Public Health Institutes Less -
Description:
What is already known about this topic? Synthetic opioids, including illicitly manufactured fentanyls (IMFs), were involved in 64% of >100,000 estimated U.S. drug overdose deaths during May 2020–April 2021.

What is added by this report? During 2019–2020, IMF-involved overdose deaths increased sharply in midwestern, southern, and western jurisdictions. During 2020, approximately 40% of IMF-involved deaths also involved stimulants, and 56% of decedents had no pulse when first responders arrived. Injection drug use was reported in 25% of deaths, and noninjection routes of drug use in 27% of deaths.

What are the implications for public health practice? Adapting overdose Prevention and response efforts to address risk factors associated with IMFs and using innovative approaches to address the endemic nature of IMFs, various routes of IMF use, and frequent polysubstance use could slow increases in IMF-involved deaths.

During May 2020–April 2021, the estimated number of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. exceeded 100,000 over a 12-month period for the first time, with 64.0% of deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (mainly illicitly manufactured fentanyls [IMFs], which include both fentanyl and illicit fentanyl analogs).* Introduced primarily as adulterants in or replacements for white powder heroin east of the Mississippi River (1), IMFs are now widespread in white powder heroin markets, increasingly pressed into counterfeit pills resembling oxycodone, alprazolam, or other prescription drugs, and are expanding into new markets, including in the western U.S.† (2). This report describes Trends in overdose deaths involving IMFs (IMF-involved deaths) during July 2019–December 2020 (29 states and the District of Columbia [DC]), and characteristics of IMF-involved deaths during 2020 (39 states and DC) using data from CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS). During July 2019–December 2020, IMF-involved deaths increased sharply in midwestern (33.1%), southern (64.7%), and western (93.9%) jurisdictions participating in SUDORS. Approximately four in 10 IMF-involved deaths also involved a stimulant. Highlighting the need for timely overdose response, 56.1% of decedents had no pulse when first responders arrived. Injection drug use was the most frequently reported individual route of drug use (24.5%), but evidence of snorting, smoking, or ingestion, but not injection drug use was found among 27.1% of decedents. Adapting and expanding overdose Prevention, harm reduction, and response efforts is urgently needed to address the high potency (3), and various routes of use for IMFs. Enhanced treatment for substance use disorders is also needed to address the increased risk for overdose (4) and treatment Complications (5) associated with using IMFs with stimulants.

Suggested citation for this article: O’Donnell J, Tanz LJ, Gladden RM, Davis NL, Bitting J. Trends in and Characteristics of Drug Overdose Deaths Involving Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyls — U.S. 2019–2020.

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mm7050e3-H.pdf


Subjects:
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Analgesics, Opioid/Poisoning Drug Overdose/Mortality Fentanyl/Poisoning Heroin/Poisoning Illicit Drugs/Poisoning Opioid-Related Disorders/Mortality Population Surveillance
Series:
MMWR; v. 70, ER, 12/14/21
Document Type:
Journal Article
Place as Subject:
U.S.
Collection(s):
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:0b4761eddea14bd6af2abd83ab1dc05cc5ff84307c5a92e9235bbfa524f2da6f
Download URL:
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/112537/cdc_112537_DS1.pdf
File Type:

Supporting Files

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