Drugs (PHOTO: Jackie Johnson)
Wisconsin opioid deaths dropped 10 percent in 2018. The 838 opioid deaths in the state were the fewest since 2015, according to the Department of Health Services. DHS has also unveiled a new online tool, Data Direct: Opioids. It includes the most up-to-date information the agency has collected on opioid use, hospitalizations and deaths.
The data shows:
- emergency room visits for opioid-related overdoses increased by 64 percent from 2014-18. Still, inpatient stays for overdoses dropped over that period by 15 percent.
- the 838 deaths were down from 932 in 2017. In 2015, there were 850 opioid-related deaths.
- an estimated one in six Wisconsinites were prescribed and used an opioid in the past year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control released preliminary data for 2018 which indicates that the number of Americans who died from drug overdoses fell in 2018, following years of increases. That includes about 47,600 opioid deaths in 2018 compared to 49,000 in 2017.
–