As national overdose deaths top 100K in a year, Pa. official urges naloxone use

State officials are encouraging people to stock up on opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone as overdose deaths climb locally and nationally.

The coronavirus pandemic upended a lot of progress officials statewide had made on reducing the number of drug overdoses, said Jen Smith, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

But as those numbers see a resurgence, it is important for the stigma surrounding drug abuse to be erased, she said.

“(Naloxone) is, in fact, a medication that saves lives, and that fact can’t be disputed,” she said during a news conference.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday estimated 100,300 people nationwide died from a drug overdose between May 2020 and April 2021, the Associated Press reported. The figure, which was estimated based on death certificate data, marks the first time the country has surpassed 100,000 fatal overdoses in a one-year period.

As of Oct. 1, the number of drug overdose deaths in Westmoreland County was nearing the total figure for 2020, according to coroner statistics.

Through the first nine months of 2021, there have been 97 confirmed drug overdose deaths, with an additional 23 cases being investigated as such.

In 2020, drugs killed 123 people in the county, a slight increase from the previous year’s tally of 115 deaths and 2018’s 122 deaths. The county has seen a dramatic drop in the number of deaths since peaking in 2017 with 193.

Powerful opioid fentanyl has been the top killer since 2016, according to coroner reports.

Smith, the department secretary, said anyone could find themselves in a situation where someone in the midst of a drug overdose would need the help naloxone can provide. The drug has been available from local pharmacies since 2014 through a standing order.

People who complete a training video and answer a short quiz can get naloxone mailed to them through Prevention Point Pittsburgh and NEXT Distro at nextdistro.org/pennsylvania. Naloxone is available locally for first responders and other organizations through the Westmoreland Drug and Alcohol Commission.

More than 19,138 opioid overdoses have been reversed through naloxone provided by the Naloxone for First Responders Program, according to state officials.