BOSTON (WHDH) - Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts increased by five percent in 2020 compared to 2019, state officials announced Wednesday.
There were 2,104 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in 2020, an estimated 102 more than the prior year and slightly above the previous peak of 2,102 in 2016, according to preliminary data released by the Mass. Department of Public Health
This is the first increase in annual opioid-related deaths in the Bay State in three years and coincides with public health challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, DPH said.
Among Black non-Hispanic males, the confirmed opioid-related overdose death rate increased the most – by 69 percent – from 32.6 to 55.1 per 100,000 people, the highest increase of any ethnic or racial group in 2020, DPH added.
Mass. is reportedly among the states with the smallest increases in all drug overdose deaths nationwide.
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