Health: Overdose Deaths Involving Fentanyl Doubled Every Year From 2013-2016/giving tree

Drug overdose deaths involving the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl are on the rise, and the number of fentanyl-related deaths roughly doubled each year from 2013 through 2016, according to new federal data. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reviewed death certificates filed from 2011 to 2016 to find out which drugs were mentioned most frequently each year. During this time period, drug overdose deaths increased from 41,340 in 2011 to 63,632 in 2016. Just as striking as the overall uptick, however, was the sharp increase in deaths involving fentanyl. Fentanyl was mentioned in about 1,600 U.S. death certificates in both 2011 and 2012, according to the NCHS’ review. In 2013, that number rose slightly to 1,919. But by 2014, it had roughly doubled to 4,223 — a trend that continued in 2015 (8,251) and 2016 (18,335). http://time.com/5477073/fentanyl-overdose-deaths/ Story: The giving tree. By Shel Silverstein