BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts health officials said Wednesday that the rate of opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts fell an estimated 5% from its 2016 peak.
The state health department said the decline comes despite the growing presence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl as a driver of opioid-related overdose deaths.
In 2019, the opioid-related overdose death rate was 29 per 100,000 people.
In 2016, it was 30.5 per 100,000 people.
There were 2,023 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths last year.