I started this blog over 20 years ago. At the time I wrote mainly about the interesting calls I was doing. Nowadays, besides writing about the opioid epidemic, it seems I write mostly about being an old medic trying to keep up, beating back father time. This is another one of those posts. I worked…
Final 2024 numbers are out from the Connecticut Office of the Medical Examiner and they show an even greater decline in fatal overdoses in 2024 than anticipated. For the first time since 2016, the state saw fewer than 1000 deaths. Congratulations all who have been working so hard to bring these deaths down. And please…
Fatal Overdoses continue to show a decline both nationally (27.5% from the June 2023 rolling 12-month high) and here in Connecticut (32.7% from our rolling 12-month high of November 2021), according to just released data from the CDC which reflects their data through the end of October 2024. The national data reflects an annual decline…
A report, Detection of Illegally Manufactured Fentanyls and Carfentanil in Drug Overdose Deaths — United States, 2021–2024, published on December 5, 2024 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) warns of increasing drug deaths caused by carfentanil. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is used primarily to tranquilize large animals such as elephants….