The 'Terrible' Reason Fentanyl Deaths Are Declining

Deaths from fentanyl appear to be falling for the first time in a decade after reaching astronomical proportions – but experts warn there is a “terrible” reason for this.

They say the drug is simply running out of people to kill, having killed about 320,000 Americans over the last decade.

Last year, about 75,000 people were killed in the U.S. by the deadly drug, down slightly from the previous year and marking the first annual decline in deaths since 2011.

Dr. Caleb Banta-Green, an addiction expert at the University of Washington, says King County, which includes Seattle, is a microcosm for the rest of the country.

Fentanyl deaths there fell nearly 10 percent at the end of 2023 compared to the last quarter – but Dr. Banta-Green believes the outbreak is “self-extinguishing.”

The graph above shows the number of Americans who die each week from synthetic drug overdoses. These are deaths caused by fentanyl. After years of rising, deaths nationwide have finally plateaued

He told local news station KUOW: “There are only so many people who use a drug, and when the mortality rate is that high, at some point – in a really terrible way – it starts to burn itself out like a forest fire.”

“So we're literally running out of fuel.” “The terrible thing in this case is that the fuel is people.”

Earlier this year, the CDC reported that drug overdose deaths fell 3 percent from 2023 to 2022. This was the first annual decline since 2018.

Recent data shows that in the 12 months ending April 2024, there were 65,787 overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, in the U.S. – down from a peak of 77,693 in June 2023.

Washington state has previously been considered a hotspot for fentanyl overdoses.

In 2022, 56 children in Washington state's foster care and child welfare system died or nearly died after taking illegal drugs, including fentanyl. That was as much as the total from 2019 to 2021.

Of the 56 cases, 38 involved fentanyl.

Dr. Caleb Banta-Green, an addiction expert at the University of Washington, said the drop in synthetic opioid deaths in Seattle could be because the drug is running out of people it could kill

The chart above shows how deaths from synthetic opioids in fentanyl hotspot Washington have slowly declined since January, according to the most recent data available

However, there has been a slow decline in interest rates since the end of last year. According to the latest CDC data, there were 2,632 deaths from synthetic opioids in the 12 months ending April 2024, a slight decrease from the peak of 2,727 in February 2024.

Dr. Banta-Green also pointed to a decline in hubs along the East Coast, such as in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

West Virginia, which has been plagued by the opioid crisis for more than 30 years, reported 1,002 deaths from synthetic opioids in the 12 months ending in April 2024, down from 1,169 in September 2023. The Mountain State saw a peak of 1,263 in April 2021.

Pennsylvania has also come under the spotlight for its rise in fentanyl use and deaths, particularly in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood.

In 2022, the Philadelphia Department of Health recorded 1,413 accidental overdose deaths, an 11 percent increase from 2021.

West Virginia, which has been plagued by the opioid epidemic for 30 years, also saw a decline in synthetic opioid death rates, as the chart above shows

And the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates that eight out of 10 of these overdoses are due to fentanyl.

The CDC does not have data on synthetic opioid overdoses in Pennsylvania. The state reported a total of 4,721 drug overdose deaths in 2023, a nine percent decrease from 2022.

Dr. Banta-Green said: “I hope that we continue to see a decline, but I hope that the future decline is not because people are dying, but because they have access to the really wonderful life-saving interventions that we really do make great.” is making progress to make it available to a wider audience.'