The Lifesciences Magazine

  New data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows that drug overdose deaths in the US reached yet another record level this spring, and that 2023 is on course to be yet another tragic year due to the drug pandemic. The new figures show that more than 111,000 people overdosed on drugs in the year that ended in April. Deaths started to increase in December after the March 2022 record was first surpassed. When compared to the rapid surge during the early years of the Covid-19 epidemic, the rate of increase is substantially slower than it has been in subsequent years. However, the most recent data available through April indicates that compared to the previous year, nearly a thousand more lives were lost in the previous 12 months. In comparison to the 12-month period ending March 2022, which saw 110,394 deaths, the 12-month period ending April 2023 saw 111,355 overdose deaths. Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institute...

  The United States has been witnessing a rapid surge in drug overdose deaths, particularly those involving cocaine and psychostimulants like methamphetamine, as per a new report released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Shockingly, the report highlights that opioids are playing a significant role in most of these fatalities. The 2021 CDC Report The CDC data from 2021 shows that opioids were present in approximately 79% of drug overdose deaths and about 66% of psychostimulant-related deaths. What’s even more concerning is the escalating trend of multi-drug combinations leading to these fatalities. Dr. Sarah Wakeman, an addiction medicine physician at Mass General Brigham, stressed that the spike in deaths associated with cocaine and methamphetamine over the last decade signifies that this crisis goes beyond opioids. She emphasized the necessity of implementing a diverse range of proven interventions to save lives in this complex polysubstance overdose cr...