AG Yost Releases 2020 Data Demonstrating Surge in Overdose Deaths; Seeks Update on Federal Effort to Combat Opioid Abuse

Attorney General David Yost released new data finding more Ohioans died of an opioid overdose during a three-month period last year than at any time since the overdose epidemic began.  The analysis performed by the Scientific Committee on Opioid Prevention and Education (SCOPE) found the death rate in Ohio from opioid overdose at 11.01 per 100,000 population in the second quarter of 2020 - the highest rate in 10 years. The previous 10-year high was in the first quarter of 2017 at 10.87 opioid overdoses per 100,000 population.  The hardest hit counties in the second quarter of 2020 were Scioto (35.22), Fayette (20.67) and Franklin (19.43).  The analysis, which found an increase of deaths in 67 percent of Ohio's counties, can be found here.  

Separately, AG Yost joined a broad coalition of 48 attorneys general in pushing federal regulators to examine recent progress in their fight against opioid abuse. The bipartisan coalition, led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, specifically seeks a progress report regarding recent steps taken by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to combat the opioid crisis, given the new authorities Congress granted the agency in 2018.  The coalition's letter seeks clarification of how FDA is using and plans to use powers granted under the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act). Those provisions include safer opioid packaging and disposal features, research and issuance of new regulations on non-addictive alternatives to opioids and guidelines for opioid prescribing.