The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
State may set new record for drug deaths in ’19
A total of 544 people died in Connecticut as a result of accidental drug intoxication in the first six months of the year, according to the state’s chief medical examiner.
The statistic released Friday means Connecticut is projected to see 1,088 overdose deaths by the end of the year, which would exceed last year’s total of 1,017 and the record of 1,038 from 2017, according to the medical examiner, Dr. James Gill.
Opioids were involved in 94 percent of the deaths, with fentanyl the most common, according to a summary prepared by Gill’s office.
“Fentanyl continues to be the most common drug detected (in over 75 percent of all accidental drug intoxication deaths),” Gill said in an email summarizing the results. “Deaths involving cocaine also continue to increase.”
Gill said that xylazine, a tranquilizer used by veterinarians, was detected in 26 of the deaths involving fentanyl.
“This is likely being added locally as an adulterant,” he said.
Heroin, morphine and/ or codeine were involved in a total of 200 overdose deaths. The vast majority of those — 193 deaths — involved heroin.
Cocaine was involved in 195 deaths. Amphetamines and/or methamphetamines were involved in 26 deaths, and MDMA was present in three cases.
A spreadsheet on the website of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner includes details of each case, including town, age of the deceased and a brief description of the circumstances.
The youngest person killed by accidental overdose was an 18yearold who died at his home Feb. 18 as a result of an overdose of fentanyl and hydroxyzine, an antihistamine.
The oldest was a 71yearold man who was found dead in his car April 28 in Stratford after overdosing on a combination of cocaine, cocaethylene, alcohol and clonazepam.
The state has seen a sharp rise in drug intoxication deaths in recent years as the opioid epidemic intensified.
The total of 357 such deaths in 2012 increased steadily for five years — 495 in 2013, 568 in 2014, 729 in 2015, 917 in 2016, 1,038 in 2017 — before decreasing slightly to 1,017 deaths last year.