NC Opioid Overdose Deaths Drop For First Time In 5 Years

CHARLOTTE, NC — After a dramatic rise in opioid-related deaths in recent years, North Carolina has seen a drop in unintentional overdose rates, Governor Roy Cooper said Thursday.

There were 1,785 opioid deaths reported in North Carolina in 2018, compared to 1,884 deaths the year before, according to state health officials. The drop in deaths shows that unintentional overdoses receded by 5 percent in 2018, after North Carolina saw a dramatic 34 percent increase in opioid overdose deaths in 2017, according to NC Department of Health and Human Services data.

Emergency room visits due to opioid-related overdoses in North Carolina also dropped about 10 percent between 2017 and 2018.

SEE ALSO:

• Opioid Deaths At Historic High In US, Surge In NC: Report
• NC Opioid Overdose Deaths Increased In 2017: CDC

Opioid-related deaths have surged in North Carolina in recent years, In 2017, drug-related deaths were up 22 percent, and opioid deaths increased by 28 percent. Synthetic opioid-related deaths, however, saw the largest spike for the state, up 111 percent in a one-year span.

“This is a major milestone for North Carolina but the figures show we have much more work to do to keep people healthy and alive," Cooper said in a statement Aug. 29. "Medicaid Expansion is the easiest and most effective step our state can take to continue our fight against this deadly disease."

In July, Cooper signed the Opioid Epidemic Response Act into law, which eliminated bans of state money to buy syringe exchange program supplies, decriminalized possession of fentanyl test strips and increased access to opioid treatment.