Fatal overdoses rise in state

Fentanyl-laced drugs, isolation fuel increase

More people in Connecticut have died from overdoses so far this year than at this time last year.

At the end of September, there were 1,138 fatal overdoses, as well as several pending cases, according to the state Department of Public Health. This is 99 more than the 1,039 recorded by the end of September 2020 and also higher than the 901 fatal overdoses as of the end of September 2019.

“We are trending higher this year than last year at this time,” said Art Mongillo, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “We believe that the isolation and lack of connection during the pandemic did negatively impact these numbers.”

Mary Kate Mason, the legislative program manager for the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, agreed, saying, “The pandemic had an impact on overdose deaths as people were isolated and perhaps not reaching out to treatment as frequently.”

The number of overdose deaths keeps increasing. As of the second week of October, there have been 1,151 confirmed overdose deaths.

State officials hope overdose deaths won’t exceed 2020’s total 1,378 fatal drug overdoses.

“It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen,” Mason said. “I think it’s difficult to say how us coming out of the pandemic slowly will impact overdose rates.” She added that there are “a lot of variables” that impact these deaths.

Two major factors that contribute are counterfeit pills and street drugs laced with deadly doses of fentanyl, issues seen across the country.

The state Department of Public Health has reported in its Statewide Opioid Reporting Directive that drug dealers are “now increasingly pressing fentanyl into dies of legitimate pills such as oxycodone, Percocet and Xanax,” which are common, and addictive, prescription opioids and benzodiazepines, according to the department’s newsletter.

About two out of every five of these fake pills with fentanyl contain a “potentially lethal dose,” according to Anne Milgram, the administrator of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Only a small dose of fentanyl is deadly — about two milligrams depending on a person’s body size, tolerance and past usage.

“Each pill is a potential Russian Roulette bullet to the user’s head,” officials said in the newsletter.

Pills are not the only culprit. In the past year, officials have seen many overdose patients claim to have only used cocaine, but they then required naloxone to be revived, according to the the state Department of Public Health newsletter.

Naloxone, which is more commonly known as Narcan, is a life-saving prescription medication that reverses opioid overdoses.

Officials are speculating whether dealers are “deliberately lacing the cocaine with fentanyl” or if the drug is getting into cocaine through cross-contamination, officials stated in the September newsletter.

“We’re really trying to make people aware of the fact that you might be taking something that you’re unaware of,” Mongillo said.

Overdoses have been steadily climbing since 2015 as fentanyl has become more widespread. In 2015, there were 728 overdoses. At the time, heroin was the leading drug type involved with 395 overdoses. Some 189, or about 26 percent, of the overdoses involved fentanyl, Department of Public Health data shows.

Five years later, in 2020, there were 1,378 fatal drug overdoses, 1,150 of which, or 85 percent, involved fentanyl, according to Department of Public Health data.

Fentanyl continues to take lives as most of 2021’s fatal overdoses — about 84.6 percent — involve the drug.

And these numbers could’ve been a lot worse. Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services officials said emergency medical personnel administer naloxone upward of 400 times a month statewide.

“Without naloxone, we would see more overdose deaths,” Mason said.

September had 442 suspected overdoses and emergency medical personnel administered naloxone for 346 of those overdoses.

Those struggling with substance abuse issues can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration national hotline at 800-662-HELP (4357) for a free and confidential treatment referral or for more information.

The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services also has a helpline that can link individuals to residential detox and other services. The helpline can be reached at 1-800-563-4086.