Opioid Deaths Soar, Life Expectancy Dips For 2nd Year: Report

A dramatic spike in the number of drug overdoses in 2016 has shed startling new light on an escalating opioid crisis that many say is stealing generations ensnared by the deadly tentacles of addiction in the United States.

According to a new study by the National Center for Health Statistics, an arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2016, there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in the United States; the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths increased from 6.1 per 100,000 in 1999 to 19.8 in 2016.

That dramatic spike led to life expectancy dropping from 78.7 to 78.6 years, the second time the number has dropped two years, the study indicates.

Also, the study says, the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths in 2016, 19.8 per 100,000, was 21% higher than the rate in 2015. The rate increased on average by 10% per year from 1999 to 2006, by 3% per year from 2006 to 2014 — and by 18% per year from 2014 to 2016, the study said.

The study also states that among those 15 and over, adults aged 25 to 34, 35 to 44, and 45 to 54 had the highest rates of drug overdose deaths in 2016 at around 35 per 100,000. Rates were significantly higher for males than females. For males, the rate increased from 8.2 in 1999 to 26.2 in 2016. For females, the rate increased from 3.9 in 1999 to 13.4 in 2016, the data indicates.

The new data indicates that West Virginia, with 52.0 per 100,000, Ohio, with 39.1, New Hampshire, at 39.0, the District of Columbia, with 38.8, and Pennsylvania, at 37.9, had the highest observed age-adjusted drug overdose death rates in 2016.

Even more startling, the report states that the rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, including drugs such as fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol, doubled between 2015 and 2016, from 3.1 to 6.2 per 100,000.

Human faces ravaged by opioid crisis

As the raging opioid epidemic sweeps the nation, a sea of local victims has been struggling with the insidious tentacles of addiction — and it's a scourge that's showing no signs of slowing down.

On Long Island, as deadly epidemic continues to destroy families, experts spoke out Thursday on the new findings.

"It's safe to say the overdose rate for 2017 will be stunning"

"The national data reflects what we are seeing here on Long Island in real-time and given the continued threat associated with illicit fentanyl, it's safe to say the overdose data for 2017 will be stunning," said Jeffrey Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of the Family and Children's Association in Mineola.

"I think we are all hoping that 2018 will be the year when we begin to turn the corner, but the prospect of federal funding cuts and persistent barriers to addiction treatment leave me wondering how we capture the momentum we need to dramatically reduce the fatality rate," he added. "Beyond the fatalities, we know that people with untreated substance use disorders are walking around sicker than ever before and that means more community and family chaos. I suppose the other worry that is that 10 years into the crisis, the numbers no longer grab people's attention and given our nation's notoriously short attention span, we could easily get distracted and the fatalities will continue to skyrocket."

On the East End of Long Island, after news anchor Drew Scott lost his beloved granddaughter Hallie to an overdose, the community has come together to raise awareness with a new task force in Southampton and a recent forum. Scott retired from his position in order to dedicate his life to raising awareness and helping others in Hallie's memory.

"The CDC says for the second year in a row, life expectancy in this country declined due to the opioid crisis," Scott said. "We have seen an example of this on Long Island where last year nearly 2 people died each day from drug overdoses and that statistics look even worse for 2017 when all the numbers are counted. We’re losing a whole generation of young people, some on their first encounter with heroin laced with fentanyl."

He added, "This latest study says we need more treatment, more access to longer term rehab, and much better public education and awareness campaigns. Even as serious as the AIDs epidemic was, life expectancy only dipped one year back in the 1980s. We need a similar all-out battle now to stop this crisis."

In 2015, New York's number of opioid overdose deaths was the fifth highest in the country, according to national data that depicts an ongoing battle that claims victims across all socioeconomic and demographic lines.

Most recently, statistics indicated that fentanyl has outpaced heroin as the deadliest drug on Long Island. And in 2015, Suffolk County made headlines as the leader in New York in heroin overdose deaths.

To that end, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has embraced new weapons in the ongoing war against addiction, even creating a new statewide heroin task force in May, 2016.

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