Teen deaths from opioid overdoses surge in one year

Drug overdose deaths among teenagers rose sharply over a one-year period after nearly seven years of decline after hitting a peak in 2007, according to federal data released Wednesday.

The data, which focus on adolescents ages 15-19, show that, while overdoses related to prescription drugs have decreased, deaths related to heroin and fentanyl are on the rise.

“This is a public health crisis,” said Dr. Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“I think what this report does is it reminds us that there are teenagers that are dying of overdoses as well. This epidemic, while it may hit older individuals disproportionately, there’s still a market impact on younger persons and there’s some nuances for this population that are worth highlighting as well,” Dr. Compton said.

The latest data for adolescents come from the National Vital Statistics System, compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report notes 772 deaths related to drug overdoses in 2015.

Among those, three times as many deaths were related to heroin overdoses compared with 1999. Additionally, death rates related to the use of synthetic opioids — such as fentanyl, a much more potent painkiller sometimes mixed with heroin — increased from 0.1 per 100,000 teenagers in 2002 to 0.7 per 100,000 in 2015.

“I would have expected more of them to be related to prescription drugs which have been — especially a number of years ago — the major killer in this category,” said Dr. Compton. “But heroin has been prominent for this age group for a number of years, and that’s how this age group is a little bit different.”

Overall, 3.7 deaths per 100,000 teenagers were reported in 2015 compared with 3.1 in 2014, which marked a 26 percent decrease from 2007, when the death rate was 4.2 per 100,000.

Drug overdose rates were higher for males than females, and the majority of overdoses were unintentional. However, girls were twice as likely as boys to commit suicide by overdose.

Last week, President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency responsible for the deaths of more than a half-million people since 2000.

But it’s unclear what resources are available in battling the epidemic as a result of the president’s declaration.

Dr. Compton said the symbolism of the statement is important to note and that the Department of Health and Human Services is continuing to evaluate best practices while supporting current efforts to save lives.

“First off, we appreciate the attention that brings to the issue, so by helping the public realize that this is an emergency situation, that requires kind of all hands on deck. That alone will be very helpful,” he said. “In terms of the specific funds and policies that can be shifted, we’re trying to sort through that right now.”

Yet with policy changes, preventive measures, public awareness and emergency responses to save lives, the numbers of deaths related to abuse of prescription opioids are expected to decline.

However, as the legal drug market improves its practices, the number of overdoses will continue to increase because users will get their fixes on the illegal market, Dr. Compton said.

“Overall for the country, the early warnings are we expect an increase when the data is finally available for the whole country,” he said. “For those states that have reported it already for 2016, we expect a market increase when we see the data — primarily driven by heroin and fentanyl, at this point.”