Families push for more disclosure on US fentanyl deaths

An organization battling the use of fentanyl is asking the administration of US President Joe Biden to track fentanyl poisoning and overdose deaths the same way it tracks COVID-19 deaths.

Families Against Fentanyl, or FAF, sent the request in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky earlier this month.

“More than 100,000 Americans died by overdose last year and an estimated 70,000 of those were killed by synthetic opioid poisoning,” the letter read. “Our research findings reveal that fentanyl poisoning is a national emergency requiring the same level of monitoring accorded to the coronavirus.”

FAF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the illicit fentanyl crisis and is advocating for federal action. The organization was founded by James Rauh after his son was killed by fentanyl poisoning in 2015.

Recent data released by the CDC show that overdose deaths from fentanyl were 71,238 last year, a rise of 23 percent over 2020.

FAF said fentanyl-related deaths have doubled across the United States since 2019 and tripled among US citizens aged 13 to 19. In that same period, deaths among black teenagers increased fivefold.

Fentanyl kills 1 US citizen every 8.57 minutes, or about 175 people per day. “It is now the number one cause of death among US citizens aged 18 to 45, surpassing COVID-19, suicide, and car accidents,” the letter stated.

FAF data show that about 79,000 people between 18 and 45 years old — 37,208 in 2020 and 41,587 last year — died of fentanyl overdoses.

With the number of fentanyl-related deaths reaching an unprecedented level, it is “imperative that the public has access to real-time, granular synthetic opioid fatality, nonfatal overdose and naloxone administration data” to fully understand and respond to the trends and threats, the letter stated.

Naloxone is a medication that reverses the effects of fentanyl poisoning and saves lives.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be deadly even in very small amounts. It is often laced with other dangerous drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana. Most supplies of fentanyl come through the Mexico-US border.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and is being increasingly added to other drugs to make users more addicted. Many users often do not know their drugs contain fentanyl.