Allegheny County overdose deaths dropped 5% last year, data show

Drug overdose deaths in Allegheny County dropped 5% last year compared to the year before, according to data released by the medical examiner’s officer.

Overdoses killed 689 people in 2022, down from 719 in 2021, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Karl Williams said. Deaths in 2020 also totaled 689, the county said.

More than one drug was detected in 559 of the overdose deaths, or 86% of them.

Fentanyl and cocaine were the drugs most commonly found, regardless of whether there was one drug or multiple drugs found in the overdose victim’s system, Williams said.

Ages of overdose victims ranged from under 14 to 65 or older. There were 181 deaths in the 35-to-44 age group, the highest number reported, Williams said.

“The refusal of the ongoing overdose epidemic to respond to the best combined and coordinated efforts of Allegheny County is a personal and public tragedy,” Williams said in a statement. “The 5% reduction in deaths is a start, but we will continue to bring resources to bear to address this issue that affects so many in our county and region.”

In December 2022, Allegheny County received its first payment from opioid settlements in court. It has been used to expand access to treatment through mobile medication and increased telehealth, funding of safe-syringe services, community-based awareness efforts and the distribution of naloxone.

Syringe service programs and Narcan are key harm reduction efforts to combat the overdose crisis, county officials said.

Narcan is a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids, including heroin and fentanyl. In 2022, the county health department’s overdose prevention program distributed 19,675 Narcan kits.

The program also trained more than 6,200 people how to respond to an overdose.

In 2023, the Pennsylvania legislature legalized fentanyl test strips, adding another tool to the county’s overdose prevention efforts. The overdose prevention program ordered 3,000 test strips at the beginning of the year and already has ordered more.

Further details on the overdose deaths in the county for 2022, and prior years, can be found on the OverdoseFreePA website at https://overdosefreepa.org.