By Berkeley Lovelace Jr.: For Complete Post, Click Here…
Fentanyl continues to drive the majority of overdose deaths in the country.
More than 107,600 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, the highest annual death toll on record, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
Overdose deaths increased 15 percent in 2021, up from an estimated 93,655 fatalities the year prior, according to a report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which collects data on a range of health topics, including drug use.
While the total number of deaths reached record highs, the increase appeared to slow compared to the change seen from 2019 to 2020, when overdose deaths rose 30 percent, according to the report.
It’s still too early to say whether that slowdown will hold, said Farida Ahmad, a scientist at the health statistics center. The agency’s latest report is considered provisional, meaning the data is incomplete and subject to change.
