Opioids Claimed 95 Lives In DuPage County In 2017: Coroner

WHEATON, IL — Opioids claimed 95 lives in DuPage County in 2017, according to data recently released by Coroner Richard A. Jorgensen. The total amount of opioid fatalities are the same as in 2016, but the 2017 breakdown shows a slight decrease in deaths from heroin alone. The data reflects an uptick in deaths from synthetic opioids and a stark 35% increase in deaths from prescription opioids.

In 2017, 23 people died from heroin alone in DuPage County. This number is down from 36 people who died from heroin alone in 2016. Some of this shift may be attributed to what Jorgensen called a "trend towards the mixture of the opioid fentanyl into the heroin and the emergence of fentanyl analogues," in his report.

The number of people in DuPage County whose deaths were attributed to a mixture of heroin and fentanyl was up by 23%, from 26 residents in 2016 to 32 residents in 2017. 2017's numbers are more than 4.5 times those of 2015, when seven residents succumbed to a mixture of heroin and fentanyl.

Fentanyl alone claimed 17 lives in 2017 and 16 in 2016.

Deaths from prescription opioids showed a sharp increase between 2015 and 2017. In 2017, 23 deaths were attributed to prescription opioids; in 2015, that number was eight.

Jorgensen wrote that " These numbers do not reflect the lives who have been saved by or Police, Fire and medical personnel using the opioid antidote naloxone." He added, "If this life saving drug had not been widely used the number of deaths would be much higher."

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