Officials: Opioids killed 716 people in 6 months

At least 716 people in Arizona are believed to have died of opioid-related overdoses during a six-month stretch of 2017, far exceeding previous death statistics, according to the state health department.

At least 716 people in Arizona are believed to have died of opioid-related overdoses during a six-month stretch of 2017, far exceeding previous death statistics that span an entire calendar year, according to the state health department.

Nearly 5,000 overdoses — an average of 190 per week — were reported across Arizona since enhanced tracking efforts were implemented in June.

About 15 percent of overdoses were fatal during that six-month time frame, according to near-real-time data reported to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

About half of people who overdosed on suspected opioids used at least one prescription, the data said.

The figures are preliminary, and finalized data for the entire year won’t be available for several months due to lags in reporting, pending toxicology screenings and ongoing investigations.

Data suggest jump in fatalities

The real-time information cannot be directly compared with other annual figures, which are determined based on death certificates, said Chris Minnick, ADHS spokesman.

“The reporting mechanisms are different,” he said. “These numbers, the 716 figure, are suspected, unconfirmed cases.”

Still, preliminary data from the sixmonth window suggest 2017 saw an explosion in opioid-related fatalities.

The death toll from opioids could far surpass 1,000 people for all of 2017 if the preliminary figures averaging 25 deaths a week apply to the five months

preceding Gov. Doug Ducey’s June declaration of a public-health emergency.

By way of comparison, 790 Arizonans died of overdoses of opioid prescription medications and heroin in 2016, a 74 percent surge since 2012.

The state said more than 440 babies born in Arizona since June might have had possible drug-related withdrawal symptoms.

Working to stop overdoses

In an effort to combat overdoses, the state has increasingly trained and outfitted law enforcement agencies across the state with naloxone kits.

December data show 5,150 kits were ordered for 52 agencies across the state.

While police officers and deputies statewide deployed the opioid-reversal drug about once a day on average during summer, emergency medical personnel administered the vast majority of roughly 3,170 doses, data show.

Lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session are expected to take up a list of recommended policy changes spanning access to treatment, to enforcement and prescription monitoring systems.

Officials have set a fiveyear goal of trimming opioid-related deaths by 25 percent.

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8515, jpohl@az central.com or on Twitter: @pohl_jason.