S.F. fentanyl deaths increase 150%
89 died from overdoses of synthetic opioid in 2018
The number of overdose deaths from fentanyl shot up to 89 in San Francisco in 2018 — a nearly 150% increase from the previous year, according to new data from the city’s public health department.
The death toll was markedly higher in the final tally released this week than in a preliminary report that came out in June. That report recorded 57 fentanyl overdose deaths in 2018. Both reports, though, make fentanyl the leading cause of opioid overdose deaths in San Francisco, killing more people than either heroin or prescription painkillers.
Public health officials said they had expected the preliminary figures to increase because it takes time for the medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of deaths in the city.
“It’s not a huge surprise to see this, although it’s certainly disappointing and sad to have lost this many lives in the city,” said Dr. Phillip Coffin, the director of substance use research for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. “Unfortunately, there is no locality that can withstand the introduction of fentanyl without some increase in mortality.”
The number of fentanyl-related overdose deaths has climbed dramatically over the past decade. In 2008, public health officials reported that five people in San Francisco died from fentanyl overdoses. That number rose to 10 deaths in 2011 and remained at or below 11 deaths until 2016, when 22 people died from fentanyl overdoses.
Thirtysix overdose deaths were attributed to fentanyl in 2017.
Coffin said the deadly upward trend in recent years
reflects fentanyl becoming the opioid of choice among some people. By comparison, 70 people died from prescription opioid overdoses in 2018 and 60 people from heroin overdoses.
Fentanyl has “become more and more prevalent as the opioid that people are using in San Francisco,” Coffin said. “Fentanyl is the riskier opioid compared to prescription opioids.”
The addictive, synthetic opiate is up to 100 times more potent than other prescription opioids, Coffin said. That means it takes a much smaller dose to be fatal. It’s also harder to treat with the overdosereversing drug naloxone.
Fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs in powder form, making it challenging for users to know how much they’re taking. Users may unknowingly consume fentanyl if the drug has been added to something else, such as methamphetamine or cocaine.