CDC: Illicit opioids key contributor to overdose deaths

Death rates involving heroin increased in all Census regions between 2006 and 2015, driven in part by increases in heroin supplies after 2010 and heroin mixed with illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths involving synthetic opioids without heroin also increased sharply after 2013, CDC said. The report calls for “sustained, targeted and multi-sectoral responses” to the opioid overdose epidemic, and points to safer prescribing, increased access to Naloxone, and linking persons at high risk of overdose to medication assisted treatment as strategies that could help reduce morbidity and mortality. September is National Recovery Month, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.