Heroin Deaths Decline, But Fentanyl's Fatal Climb Continues: DHP

BOSTON, MA — Up to 1,475 people died of likely opioid overdoses in the past nine months, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Department's preliminary tally of opioid-related deaths released Monday.

Of those nearly 1,500 fatalities, DHP says 74 percent were caused by potent painkiller Fentanyl, while the number of deaths from heroin continued to decline.

This reaffirms a troubling forecast this summer from DHP, which this summer said the state is on track for its deadliest year on record due to opioid-related deaths.

Read More: Mass. Opioid-Related Overdoses Continue Deadly Climb in 2016

The latest numbers run through September 2016. They put total accidental opioid overdose deaths this year at 1,005 confirmed deaths and an additional 392-470 estimated fatalities.

Updated totals also released Monday put a final number on opioid-related deaths for 2015 at 1,574. With preliminary numbers as high was 1,475 deaths as of September, the state unfortunately appears on track to outdo those totals in 2016. It is already ahead of the numbers reported by this point last year, DHP said.

“While we continue to see a decline in the number of deaths involving heroin, the data released today are a sobering reminder of why the opioid crisis is so complex and a top public health priority,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said in a press release. “This is a crisis that touches every corner of our state, and we will continue our urgent focus expanding treatment access.”

As described by DHP, Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that has effects similar to heroin. It can be prescribed for severe pain. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2015 Investigative Reporting, while pharmaceutical fentanyl (from transdermal patches or lozenges) is diverted for abuse in the United States at small levels, much of the fentanyl in Massachusetts is due to illicitly-produced fentanyl, not diverted pharmaceutical fentanyl.

Read the full third quarter report from DHP here.

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