Overdose deaths decreased in Allegheny County last year, report says

There was a decrease in overdose deaths in Allegheny County last year, according to the final numbers provided by the Allegheny County Chief Medical Examiner.

Dr. Ariel Goldschmidt announced there were 665 overdose deaths throughout the county in 2023. This is a 20% decrease from the recent high of 835 overdoses in 2018 and a 4% decrease from the 2022 count.

“We’re pleased to see that Allegheny County can report a slight decrease in 2023 overdoses over 2022 numbers, which also follows a national trend of a decrease in overdose fatalities,” said Dr. Goldschmidt, Chief Medical Examiner.

Overdose deaths account for 26% of all deaths (665 of 2,577) under the office’s jurisdiction in 2023. The vast majority of 2023 overdose deaths, 567 or 85%, were deaths with more than one drug being present.

Fentanyl and cocaine were the drugs found most commonly, regardless of whether there is one drug or multiple drugs present. Fentanyl was involved in 82 percent of deaths.

Ages of cases ranged from three deaths of an individual under the age of 14 to 54 deaths of individuals that were 65 or older. There were 181 deaths in the 35-44 age group, the highest number reported.

Caucasian males continue to be the most common demographic group to experience a deadly overdose, though while white overdose deaths decreased by 10%, Black overdose deaths increased 17% over 2022 numbers, county officials said.

View the County Overdose Dashboard for in depth data and trends over the last several years.

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