US overdose deaths fell 27% last year, the largest one-year decline ever seen

By MIKE STOBBE and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press There were fewer U S drug overdose deaths in than the year before the largest one-year decline ever recorded An estimated people died from overdoses last year according to provisional Centers for Affection Control and Prevention statistics published Wednesday That s down from the in The CDC has been collecting comparable records for years The previous largest one-year drop was in according to the agency s National Center for Healthcare Statistics All but two states saw declines last year with Nevada and South Dakota seeing small increases Various of the biggest drops were in Ohio West Virginia and other states that have been hard-hit in the nation s decades-long overdose epidemic Experts say more research requirements to be done to understand what drove the reduction but they mention several realizable factors Among the bulk cited Increased availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone Expanded addiction restoration Shifts in how people use drugs The growing impact of billions of dollars in opioid lawsuit settlement money The number of at-risk Americans is shrinking after waves of deaths in older adults and a shift in teens and younger adults away from the drugs that cause majority deaths Still annual overdose deaths are higher than they were before the COVID- pandemic In a comment the CDC noted that overdoses are still the leading cause of death for people - years old underscoring the need for ongoing efforts to maintain this progress Selected experts worry that the contemporary decline could be slowed or stopped by reductions in federal funding and the constituents robustness workforce or a shift away from the strategies that seem to be working Now is not the time to take the foot off the gas pedal noted Dr Daniel Ciccarone a drug plan expert at the University of California San Francisco The provisional numbers are estimates of everyone who died of overdoses in the U S including noncitizens That content is still being processed and the final numbers can sometimes differ a bit But it s clear that there was a huge drop last year Experts note that there have been past moments when U S overdose deaths seemed to have plateaued or even started to go down only to rise again That happened in But there are reasons to be optimistic Naloxone has become more widely available in part because of the introduction of over-the-counter versions that don t require prescriptions Meanwhile drug manufacturers distributors pharmacy chains and other businesses have settled lawsuits with state and local governments over the painkillers that were a main driver of overdose deaths in the past The deals over the last decade or so have promised about billion over time with largest part of it required to be used to fight addiction Another settlement that would be among the largest with members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma agreeing to pay up to billion could be approved this year The money along with federal taxpayer funding is going to a variety of programs including supportive housing and harm reduction efforts such as providing materials to test drugs for fentanyl the biggest driver of overdoses now But what each state will do with that money is in the present at issue States can either say We won we can walk away in the wake of the declines or they can use the lawsuit money on naloxone and other efforts announced Regina LaBelle a former acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Agenda She now heads an addiction and constituents procedures project at Georgetown University President Donald Trump s administration views opioids as largely a law enforcement issue and as a reason to step up perimeter safety That worries multiple constituents wellness leaders and advocates We believe that taking a general wellness approach that seeks to assistance not punish people who use drugs is crucial to ending the overdose situation explained Dr Tamara Olt an Illinois woman whose -year-old son died of a heroin overdose in She is now executive director of Broken No Moore an advocacy organization focused on substance use disorder Olt attributes latest declines to the growing availability of naloxone work to make remedy available and wider awareness of the concern Kimberly Douglas an Illinois woman whose -year-old son died of an overdose in credited the growing chorus of grieving mothers Eventually people are going to start listening Unfortunately it s taken -plus years The Associated Press Strength and Science Department receives promotion from the Howard Hughes Health Institute s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The AP is solely responsible for all content