Officials credit the decline to public health measures such as opioid overdose reversal medication and testing strips that detect dangerous substances like fentanyl in street drugs.
Chief Medical Officer Natasha Bagdasarian says preliminary data for 2024 show an even bigger decline in overdose rates.
“And when we look at our preliminary data for 2024, that decline is even more profound. Around and in fact the preliminary data for 2024 and this is subject to change. But if we look back, we're seeing rates that have not been this low in terms of overdose deaths since 2015. So there's much to celebrate here.”
Bagdasarian says opioid settlement funds have been a big factor in the reduction. Funds have been used towards prevention, harm reduction, and recovery programs.
