Overdose deaths rose in Washington as they fell nationwide

Drug overdose deaths have continued to rise in Washington state, even as they've started to fall nationwide , according to preliminary CDC data.

By the numbers: Between May 2023 and April 2024, Washington saw nearly 3,600 overdose deaths — a 14% increase over the previous 12 months, the CDC says.

• Nationwide, overdose deaths fell by 10% over the same timeframe.

Between the lines: Washington likely didn't see the same decline in overdose deaths because "fentanyl became prevalent in the Pacific Northwest later than the rest of the country," John Doyle, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health, told Axios this week.

• Several other Western states also saw their overdose deaths increase year-over-year, including Alaska (+42%); Oregon (+22%); Nevada (+18%); Utah (+8%); and Colorado (+4%), per the CDC.
• Preliminary data indicates overdose deaths may be starting to level off in Washington, although it's too soon to say for sure, Doyle wrote in an email.
• "In general, we tend to see changes in overdose trends in the eastern part of the country before the West," he wrote.

Zoom in: In King County, overdose deaths were down in the first half of this year, the county health agency told Axios.

• In the first seven months of 2024, the county had 15% fewer fatal overdoses than it did in the first seven months of 2023 — 683 vs. 802, agency spokesperson Sharon Bogan wrote in an email.
• Fentanyl-related overdoses have decreased as well, with the county recording 443 overdoses involving fentanyl between January and June of 2024, compared with 551 in the first six months of 2023, Bogan wrote.
• That's about a 20% drop.

What they're saying: Bogan said that's a "hopeful indicator" that some of the county's efforts to combat fentanyl use are working.

• In the first six months of 2024, Public Health–Seattle & King County distributed 54,000 kits containing the overdose-reversing medication naloxone, she said — far more than the 30,000 distributed in 2023 and the 13,500 distributed in 2022.
• Each kit contains two doses of the drug commonly known as Narcan.

The bottom line: Overdoses still are the leading cause of death from preventable injuries in King County, Bogan said.

• That shows there's still more work to do to increase access to naloxone and help people get treatment, she said.

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