The Republic graphic by Andy East
The Republic graphic by Andy East
Drug overdose deaths in Bartholomew County on pace to decline for the second consecutive year as the county heads into the final month of 2024.

As of Wednesday, there had been a total of 19 overdose deaths in Bartholomew County this year, according to the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office. By comparison, there had been 23 overdose deaths at the same point in 2023.

That puts the county on pace for roughly 21 overdose deaths this year, which would be the lowest annual tally since 2018, when there were 17 deaths, and down from 39 year in 2022, the highest annual total on record. It would also be the first time on record that overdose deaths declined for two consecutive years, according to data going back to 2015.

The update from local officials comes two weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released provisional data suggesting that the decline in U.S. drug overdose deaths appears to have continued this year, The Associated Press reported.

The data has given experts hope the nation is seeing sustained improvement in the persistent epidemic.

There were about 97,000 overdose deaths in the 12-month period that ended June 30, according to provisional CDC data released Nov. 13, according to wire reports. That’s down 14% from the estimated 113,000 for the previous 12-month period.

In Indiana, overdoses deaths declined 24% over the same period, falling from 2,457 deaths in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2023, to 1,986 deaths during the same 12-month period this year, according to the provisional data.

As of Wednesday, Bartholomew County was on pace to see a 17% decline in the number of overdose deaths compared to last year and a 51% compared to 2022, according to county records.

Local officials have speculated that the availability of harm-reduction measures including naloxone may be a big reason why overdose deaths continue at a lower pace this year, particularly given that there is “no indication that use of fentanyl has declined” in the community.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is more potent than heroin but is cheaper to produce and distribute. Fentanyl is increasingly being cut with other drugs, including counterfeit pills.

Naloxone is a nasal spray that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose. It is often sold under the brand name Narcan.

Overdose death rates began steadily climbing in the 1990s because of opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and — more recently — illicit fentanyl, according to wire reports. Provisional data had indicated a slight decline for 2023, and the tally released Wednesday showed that the downward trend has kept going.

However, there have been moments in the last several years when U.S. overdose deaths seemed to have plateaued or even started to go down, only to rise again, experts told the AP.

Locally, overdose deaths fell from 30 in 2017 to 17 in 2018 but then increased in each of the following four years, reaching the highest level of record each year from 2021 to 2023.

National experts also aren’t certain about the reasons for the national decline, but they cite a combination of possible factors.

One is COVID-19. In the worst days of the pandemic, addiction treatment was hard to get and people were socially isolated — with no one around to help if they overdosed, according to wire reports. Still, overdose deaths are well above what they were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The recent numbers could represent the fruition of years of efforts to increase the availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, and addiction treatments such as buprenorphine, according to the AP.
© 2024 The Republic