Cuyahoga County is on pace to see a record number of overdose deaths in 2021, according to projections from the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The office is projecting the county will see 750 overdose deaths this year, based on data through July 15. If that pace holds, the county will surpass the record 727 overdose deaths it saw in 2017.
Through the end of June, 304 overdose victims died from heroin, fentanyl (or fentanyl analog), or a combination of them, according to medical examiner’s office data. That compares to 192 at the same point last year, 214 in 2019, 185 in 2018 and 292 in 2017.
At least 351 Cuyahoga County overdose deaths in 2021 involve heroin, fentanyl (or analog), cocaine or a combination of them, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The medical examiner’s office stated that the rate of African American deaths involving fentanyl is also reaching a record high. This year, 29.37 percent of all fatal overdose victims are African American. Last year 25 percent of all overdose death victims were African American and in 2019, the rate was 27.8 percent. The rate is more than double that in 2016 (14.5).
Cuyahoga County saw a monthly record of overdose deaths in March with 75. Forty of those deaths involved a combination of cocaine and fentanyl, 39 involved fentanyl, 20 involved a combination of heroin and fentanyl, 14 involved cocaine alone, and two involved heroin alone. The March total surpassed the record of 68 that was set in May 2020. The county equaled that 68 figure twice this year — in April and May — according to data from the medical examiner’s office.
Though the county is seeing an increase in overdose deaths overall, it is seeing a decrease in the number of overdose deaths involving carfentanil. Through July 15, there have been three overdose deaths in the county involving carfentanil. There were a total of 63 overdose deaths involving carfentanil last year. There were 220 in 2019.
Provisional data from the CDC estimates that 93,000 people died in the U.S. from drug overdoses in 2020, a more than 29 percent increase over 2019.
In late July, four companies accused of playing a role in fueling the opioid epidemic agreed to a $26 billion lawsuit settlement. Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson were being sued by states, counties and cities. More than 4,000 local governments filed lawsuits in state and federal courts.
Following the July 21 agreement, states have 30 days to sign on to the deal, and local governments in states that participate will have up to 150 days to join, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Maximum payments will be made to states and their local governments “if they collectively support the agreement, securing a critical mass of participating states and local governments.”
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was one of the state attorneys general leading the negotiations. According to his office, the total funding distributed will be determined by the overall participation of both litigating and non-litigating state and local governments. A substantial portion of the money must be spent on opioid treatment and prevention. Each state’s share of the settlement money has been determined by agreement among the states using a formula that “takes into account the impact of the crisis on the state.” That includes the number of overdose deaths, the number of residents with substance use disorder, and the number of opioids prescribed, as well as the population of the state.
“This isn’t an antidote for this devastating crisis that killed so many, but the financial resources will provide for significant recovery in Ohio,” Yost said in a statement. “The funds are necessary for the healing process that our communities desperately need, and the guardrails these companies are now required to implement will help make sure that these companies will provide a brake in the system, so that those individuals who need medication can receive it without flooding our communities.”
According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the 10-year agreement will result in court orders requiring Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen to:
- Establish a centralized independent clearinghouse to provide all three distributors and state regulators with aggregated data and analytics about where drugs are going and how often, eliminating blind spots in the current systems used by distributors.
- Use data-driven systems to detect suspicious opioid orders from customer pharmacies.
- Terminate customer pharmacies’ ability to receive shipments, and report those companies to state regulators when they show certain signs of diversion.
- Prohibit shipping of suspicious opioid orders and report such orders.
- Prohibit sales staff from influencing decisions related to identifying suspicious opioid orders.
It will also require Johnson & Johnson to:
- Stop selling opioids.
- Not fund or provide grants to third parties for promoting opioids.
- Not lobby on activities related to opioids.
- Share clinical trial data under the Yale University Open Data Access Project.
- Require senior corporate officials to engage in regular oversight of anti-diversion efforts.
