Opioid deaths worsen in Worcester, improve statewide
Photo | Grant Welker
The opioid-related death rate in the city of Worcester is on the rise.
Opioid deaths have become slightly less common across Massachusetts, even as they remain far higher than in the past.
But four Central Massacusetts cities — Framingham, Gardner, Marlborough and Worcester — are headed in the wrong direction, according to new data Wednesday from the state Department of Public Health.
The state singled out those four cities among just 10 statewide where the state said the number of opioid deaths rose by at least 20% between 2017 and 2018.
In Worcester, fatalities rose from 80 to 97. Marlborough rose from five to 14, Framingham from eight to 19, and Gardner from eight to 11.
Statewide, numbers have slowly begun coming down after a sharp spike begun around five years ago. The number of fatal opioid overdoses fell an estimated 4% between 2016 and 2018, state data shows. In 2018, the total number of confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths was 2,033.
Numbers peaked with 2,100 confirmed opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016.
In the first four months of 2019, 497 confirmed or estimated opioid-related deaths took place, putting the state on pace for 1,988 for the year.
Yearly opioid overdoses in Massachusetts still more than triple the number the state saw a decade or more ago.
Fentanyl, an opioid far stronger than heroin, has been seen as a major contributor to the rise in opioid deaths. The synthetic drug was present in the toxicology of 89% of those who died last year of an opioid-related overdose and had a toxicology screen.
State officials have pointed to some success stories in attacking the opioid epidemic, including strong prescription monitoring the state says has dropped the number of opioid prescriptions 38% in the first quarter of 2019 compared to four years prior.
Providers under the Massachusetts Prescription Monitoring Program registered nearly 1.9 million searches in the first quarter in an indication of thorough oversight, an increase of roughly 90,000 since the previous quarter.
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