After Several Years of Progress, Opioid Deaths Surge in New York State During Peak COVID Year

Over the past several years, New York has been greatly impacted by the opioid epidemic. Of course, New York is not alone. This is something I analyzed in previous reports. From 2010 to 2017 drug deaths dramatically increased in New York State. After the number of drug deaths peaked at 4,117 in 2017 from 1,760 in 2010 (a nearly 134% increase), the number of deaths finally started to decline in 2018 for the first time in years (see table below). Whether that decline was the result of new interventions and policies working will be a topic of future pieces. The downward trend continued in 2019 until COVID-19 made its way to New York.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Multiple Cause of Death 1999- 2020 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999- 2020, as compiled from data provided by the fifty-seven vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc. gov/mcd-icd10.html on Jan 25, 2022 4:22:02 PM.

The latest data from the federal government shows that in 2020, the number of drug deaths in New York State grew to 5,165 — exceeding the high watermark in 2017 and reversing a two-year decline. The number of drug deaths increased by over 1,000 annual fatalities from the peak number in 2017. From 2019 to 2020 drug deaths grew 35% after a 7% decrease over the previous two years. In fact, a 35% year-over-year increase exceeded the 29% increase from 2015 to 2016 when annual drug deaths were steadily increasing in New York State. In other words, after making progress to combat the opioid crisis, the pandemic erased the positive downward trend with a significant increase. It will be interesting to see what the federal data for 2021 will be — and whether the number of deaths continue to rise.

“The latest data from the federal government shows that in 2020, the number of drug deaths in New York State grew to 5,165 — exceeding the high watermark in 2017 and reversing a two-year decline.”

As the pandemic has laid bare, we have had to grapple with growing inequality in our society. Over the past months, there have been important studies on the disparate impact of the pandemic, particularly on communities of color. The University at Albany and the Rockefeller Institute of Government have done important work on examining health disparities during COVID.

Add the opioid crisis to the growing evidence of those growing disparities. The latest federal data illustrates that while every demographic group in New York State saw increases in the number of drug deaths during 2020, it was more pronounced in the Black/African American community. Drug deaths grew more than 50% in the Black community from 2019 to 2020 versus significantly lower increases among other groups (see the table below).

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Multiple Cause of Death 1999- 2020 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2021. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999- 2020, as compiled from data provided by the fifty-seven vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc. gov/mcd-icd10.html on Jan 26, 2022 9:26:40 AM.

Behind every number and statistic in the federal data is a person who lost their life to drugs. The human toll from the pandemic is still far-reaching and that includes the continuing opioid misuse crisis. Over the following weeks I will continue to dive into the federal data. In the meantime, one study that captures the entire picture of the crisis from a community perspective is Rockefeller Institute’s in depth study of the opioid crisis called “Stories from Sullivan” because it’s one of the studies completed on the topic. I urge you to take a look.