Citation

Peterson BL, Schreiber S, Fumo N, Brooke Lerner E. J. Forensic Sci. 2019; 64(1): 144-148.

Affiliation

Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedert Hospital, Pavilion 1P, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI, 53226.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.13808

PMID

29684941

Abstract

Heroin and fentanyl are the overwhelming and increasing cause of opioid deaths in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. We reviewed all drug and opioid deaths from 2013 to 2017 to delineate the specific opioid drugs involved and changes in their incidence. From 2013 to 2017, 980 deaths were due to opioids, rising from 184 in 2013 to 337 in 2017. In 2017, opioid deaths exceeded combined non-natural deaths from homicide and suicide. Illicit heroin and fentanyl/analogs caused 84% of opioid deaths and 80% of drug deaths, with no increase in deaths due to oral prescription drugs such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. Any approach to decreasing this dramatic increase in opioid deaths should first focus on interdicting the supply and cheap availability of these illicit opioids. Fentanyl and its analogs represent the most deadly opioids and the greatest threat to human life in our population.

© 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

autopsy; fentanyl; forensic science; heroin; opioids; toxicology