Counterfeit Pills Increasingly Involved in U.S. Overdose Deaths

The percentage of overdose deaths involving counterfeit pills in the United States more than doubled between late 2019 and late 2021, according tofindings published today in the CDC ’sMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The percentage of overdose deaths involving counterfeit pills more than tripled in western states in the country.“Drug overdose deaths are at historically high levels in the United States, with a preliminary estimate of more than 105,000 deaths in 2022,” wrote Julie O’Donnell, Ph.D., of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and colleagues. “Counterfeit pills can expose new populations t o highly potent drugs such as IMFs [illicitly manufactured fentanyls] and illicit benzodiazepines, and persons using pills might not be aware of their contents.”O ’Donnell and colleagues relied on data submitted to the CDC’sState Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System to examine trends in overdose deaths with evidence of counterfeit pill use. This system contains information submitted by jurisdictions throughout the country about drug overdose deaths from death certificates, postmortem toxicology reports, and more.The authors calculated quarterly percentages of overdose deaths with evidence of counterfeit pill use from July 2019 to December 2021 based on information provided by officials from 29 states and the District of Columbia. The authors also examined information about the demographics of the people who died by overdose, the circum...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: benzodiazepines CDC counterfeit pills fentanyl MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report overdose death western U.S. Source Type: research