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Heroin deaths keep rising in Kentucky



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PDF | Kentucky 2013 Overdose Fatality Report

Summary/Abstract

FRANKFORT – Heroin overdose deaths in Kentucky continued to surge in 2013 though the number of all drug overdose fatalities stayed steady, according to a report issued Thursday by the Office of Drug Control Policy.

Of the 722 overdose deaths autopsied by the Kentucky Medical Examiner last year, 230, or 31.9 percent, were attributed to heroin, compared to 143, or 19.6 percent, in 2012, according to the report. It also states there were 1,007 overdose fatalities in 2013, compared to 1,004 identified in the 2012 report.

As recently as 2011, only 3 percent of the 1,023 overdose deaths in Kentucky were attributed to heroin.

Content

FRANKFORT – Heroin overdose deaths in Kentucky continued to surge in 2013 though the number of all drug overdose fatalities stayed steady, according to a report issued Thursday by the Office of Drug Control Policy.

Of the 722 overdose deaths autopsied by the Kentucky Medical Examiner last year, 230, or 31.9 percent, were attributed to heroin, compared to 143, or 19.6 percent, in 2012, according to the report. It also states there were 1,007 overdose fatalities in 2013, compared to 1,004 identified in the 2012 report.

As recently as 2011, only 3 percent of the 1,023 overdose deaths in Kentucky were attributed to heroin.

The Courier-Journal reported on the same trend in May as part of continuing coverage on the state's drug problems. Experts pointed out that the numbers may actually underestimate heroin overdose mortality, since many deaths ascribed to morphine are likely overdoses from heroin that has metabolized in the victim's body.

The newspaper investigation also found that the number of heroin trafficking charges in Louisville went from a single inmate in 2011 to 53 in 2012 and 71 in 2013, and 100 from January to May this year. And it found that heroin addicts are straining agencies across Kentucky, filling jails, courts and treatment centers.

All of this has been fueled by a state crackdown on prescription drug abuse – although state officials said that's not the sole factor and they have no intention of curbing their battle against pill abuse.

Of the overdose deaths autopsied by the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office in 2013:

Morphine was the most detected controlled substance in overdose deaths, present in 43.49 percent of all autopsied cases.

Alprazolam was next at 34.76 percent, followed by 6 monoacetylmorphine (heroin) at 31.9 percent, hydrocodone at 24.79 percent, and oxycodone at 19.94 percent.

Dr. Tracey Corey, Kentucky's chief medical examiner, noted that many of the cases reported as morphine may in fact involve heroin.

The youngest overdose fatality was 18 years old, and the oldest was 78 years old.

The numbers, contained in the 2013 Overdose Fatality Report, were compiled from the Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office, the Kentucky Injury Prevention & Research Council and the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics. The report was mandated under by state legislation passed in 2012.

Last year's report reflected Kentucky residents who died of a drug overdose regardless of where the death occurred; this year's report counts overdose deaths that occurred in Kentucky, regardless of where the decedent was from.

The law also mandated more stringent reporting requirements for deaths caused by overdose, which went into effect midway through 2012. As a result, drug policy leaders had anticipated that numbers for 2013 – the first full year of the more rigorous standards – would be significantly higher.

"I'm encouraged that even with the more demanding reporting stipulations, we appear to be holding steady, which tells me we may have crested in terms of overdose deaths," Van Ingram, executive director of the Office of Drug Control Policy, said in the agency's news release.

Ingram said the report contains known overdose deaths as of mid-July, 2014, and that a small number of overdose deaths for 2013 may still be reported as death certificates from county coroners are turned in to the Office of Vital Statistics. For comparison purposes, the 2012 Overdose Fatality Report indicated 1,004 deaths; by the end of 2013, the final number of overdose deaths for 2012 was 1,070.

Other findings

• Jefferson County had the most overdose deaths of any county, with 191.

• The largest increase in overdose fatalities occurred in Fayette County, with 86 deaths in 2013 compared to 74 in 2012.

• The largest decrease occurred in Campbell County, with 22 fewer fatalities in 2013 than in 2012 (33 vs. 55, respectively).

Top heroin ODs

Jefferson County, 105

Fayette County, 35

Kenton County, 34

Boone County, 22

Campbell County, 16

Highest rates

Overdose deaths in many Eastern Kentucky counties, when compared by 100,000 population, 2013 data, showed high rates. The top 6 counties by overdose deaths per 100,000 people for 2013 include:

» Bell County – 93.2 per 100,000

» Clinton County – 49.3 per 100,000

» Breathitt County – 44.3 per 100,000

» Floyd County – 43.9 per 100,000

» Perry County – 42.8 per 100,000

» Harlan – 42.1 per 100,000

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