How Drug Deaths Affected The Tredyffrin-Easttown Area In 2016

Fifteen deaths in and around the Tredyffrin-Easttown area were among the 97 drug overdoses in Chester County in 2016, according to information provided by the Chester County Coroner's Office.

The statistics paint a sobering picture of the impact which the national epidemic has had upon the local community. Victims from across geographical locations, racial backgrounds, and ages died from accidental overdoses last year.

Most of the deaths involved opioids of some kind, and had often been mixed with alcohol and other drugs. The deaths in and around the Tredyffrin-Easttown area are listed below:

• Tredyffrin – Sept. 28, 66-year-old Caucasian male, died of multiple drug toxicity

• Tredyffrin – Sept. 29, 29-year-old Caucasian male, died of acute fentanyl intoxication (fentanyl)

• Tredyffrin – Sept. 30, 21-year-old Caucasian male, died of acute multiple drug intoxication (heroin, opioids)

• Tredyffrin – Oct. 3, 58-year-old Caucasian female, died of acute combined drug intoxication

• Tredyffrin – Oct. 5, 28-year-old Caucasian male, died of acute fentanyl intoxication (fentanyl)
• Malvern – May 16, 28-year old Caucasian male, died of acute multiple drug intoxication (fentanyl)

• East Whiteland – April 3, 22-year-old Caucasian male, died of acute morphine (heroin, fentanyl, opioids)

• East Whiteland – April 4, 51-year-old Caucasian female, died of acute multiple drug intoxication (opioids)

• Phoenixville – Feb. 24, 53-year-old Caucasian male, died of multiple drug intoxication (opioids)

• Phoenixville – April 8, 37-year-old Caucasian male, died from combined drug intoxication (opioids)

• Phoenixville – May 22, 39-year-old Caucasian female, died of drug and alcohol intoxication (heroin)

• Phoenixville – June 30, 28-year-old Caucasian male, died of fentanyl intoxication (fentanyl)

• Phoenixville – Sept. 29, 29-year-old Caucasian male, died of acute fentanyl intoxication (fentanyl)

• Phoenixville – Dec. 21, 32-year-old Caucasian male, died of multiple drug intoxication (heroin)

Overdoses were not concentrated in one area of the county, but were spread largely evenly in rural and more suburban areas, from Upper Oxford to West Chester.

Many of the overdoses involved fentanyl, a drug that Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele called "50 times" more deadly than heroin.

Officials are attacking the opioid epidemic on multiple fronts. One of the most impactful has been the prescription drug collection initiatives, which in 2016 resulted in 8,000 pounds of drugs being collected from throughout the county.

According to District Attorney Tom Hogan, Chester County has the lowest overdose rate in southeastern Pennsyvlania, although numbers on the county, region, state, and national level continue to rise.

Editor's note: these statistics reflect the most recently available data from the Chester County's Coroner's Office. Final numbers on accidental drug deaths in 2016 are pending one final autopsy from an incident that occurred in December.

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