'Commonplace To Find Up To 15 Drugs:' DuPage 2022 Overdose Statistics

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — "It was commonplace to find up to 15 drugs" in the systems of overdose victims in DuPage County in 2022, according to county Coroner Richard Jorgensen. Jorgensen released his 2022 DuPage County Overdose Statistics on April 3, noting that it was hard to determine which drug was responsible for a person's death when so many drugs were found in a victim's bloodstream.

"It must be stated that the analysis of this years’ data is very difficult due to the variety of drugs found in the deceased blood. It was very unusual for an analysis to find one or two drugs in the system," Jorgensen wrote, "Rather, it was commonplace to find up to 15 drugs making it difficult to determine which drug was responsible for the death. Therefore, this data will be reported [to] only identify which drugs were present in what number of toxicology reports and not to try and state which drug was responsible for the death."

He added that non-opoid prescription medication and cocaine caused a greater number of deaths in 2023 than in previous years.

Among DuPage County's 150 fatal overdoses, toxicology reports revealed the following drugs in victims' systems.

According to Jorgensen's report, the age of overdose victims has been rising in the past 10 years, with that trend continuing in 2022. In 2023 in DuPage County, the most overdose deaths were seen among 20- and 30-year-olds. In 2022, overdose deaths were seen most frequently in DuPage County residents between the ages of 30 and 50, per the report.

Related: Fentanyl A 'Major Drug' In 2021 Overdose Deaths In DuPage County

Jorgensen wrote, "The epidemic of opioid and other legal and illegal drugs continues to ravage our county. Over the past few years there has been a major shift in the types and number of drugs found in blood of the deceased. Prior to 2015 the drugs found were either heroin or prescription drugs. Most often there was only one or two drugs in the system. However, starting in 2015 there was an influx of illicit fentanyl in the FDA-approved form and multiple new isomers. There was also an increase in polypharmacy, which means that there were multiple different drugs found in the system. In the past few years these trends have accentuated. "