Opioid Crisis in NYC Reaches Historic Levels, ‘Killing a New Yorker Every Three Hours’

New York is in the midst of an opioid crisis, with fatal drug overdoses reaching historically high levels.

There were 3,026 fatal overdoses last year — a 12% increase from the previous year, according to data released by the city’s Health Department.

Fentanyl was involved in 81% of those fatal overdoses.

Although legally prescribed for people suffering from severe pain (from surgery or late-stage cancer), the synthetic opioid is “up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine,” the CDC says. The agency points out that its “extreme potency” makes it cheaper, more addictive and “more dangerous,” and is often abused in liquid or powder form or made into pills that resemble legal opioids.

The drug has been implicated in the deaths of Prince, Mac Miller and Tom Petty – and has a long history of abuse.

Fentanyl in pill form.

Getty

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Among the deaths: 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici, who, along with three other children, came into contact with the opioid at his Bronx daycare. The other children were hospitalized after exposure; they were all given Narcan.

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Narcan is the brand name for Naloxone, which can quickly reverse an opioid overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It can be given as a nasal spray or injection — and in response to New York’s opioid crisis, the city has begun installing vending machines that offer the drug for free.

“Public health vending machines are an innovative way to meet people where they are and put life-saving tools like naloxone in their hands,” Vasan said in a statement. “We will leave no stone unturned until we reverse the trends of opioid-related deaths in our city.”

Narcan available in a vending machine.

Scott Olson/Getty

And on Monday, the city’s Department of Health advised all New Yorkers to “carry naloxone and know how to use it.”

Of the five boroughs, the Bronx had the highest overdose rate, with Staten Island second.

To combat the epidemic, Staten Island officials point to the Hotspotting Program, which uses an algorithm developed by MIT to identify individuals who may be at risk of overdose, such as people who have dropped out of treatment programs.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education