Drug Overdose Deaths Skyrocketed in 2016–And Traditional Opioid Painkillers Weren’t the Cause

September 5, 2017

(Vox) – The federal government just put out new statistics for drug overdose deaths in 2016 — and they are very, very grim. The preliminary figures from the National Center for Health Statistics suggest that there were more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016. And in a shocking — but not quite surprising — reveal, synthetic opioids like fentanyl overtook both heroin and prescription painkillers in terms of overdose deaths.