Rates of drug overdose deaths decreased in the United States for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to new federal data published early Thursday. The rate of overdose deaths fell from 32.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022 to 31.3 per 100,000 people in 2023, a 4% decrease, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
Dr. Aitzaz Munir, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and associate program director for the Rutgers Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program, told ABC News the drop in the overdose death rate was “surprising” to him but a positive sign. He said he believes the decrease in deaths may be due to a more “aggressive approach” toward the treatment of drug conditions including more treatment programs and making them more widely available. To read the full story.