Chicago Area Records 40% Drop In Fatal Drug Overdoses For 2025
The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed that 683 people died of opioid overdoses last year, though that number might increase as more toxicology test results roll in. At its most recent peak, the county reported 2,001 fatal opioid overdoses just three years earlier in 2022.
Chicago and Cook County saw another steep decline in fatal opioid overdoses last year, records show, four years after a recent peak in such cases during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Charles, 1/7)
The law ensures drug overdoses treated by emergency medical workers are tracked in a statewide system. The law took effect at the start of this year. (1/6)
On recovery from substance abuse —
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In Lodge Grass, Montana, A Crow Community Works To Rebuild From Meth’s Destruction
Brothers Lonny and Teyon Fritzler walked amid the tall grass and cottonwood trees surrounding their boarded-up childhood home near the Little Bighorn River and daydreamed about ways to rebuild. The rolling prairie outside the single-story clapboard home is where Lonny learned from their grandfather how to break horses. It’s where Teyon learned from their grandmother how to harvest buffalo berries. It’s also where they watched their father get addicted to meth. (Houghton, 1/8)
Thanos first stepped into the peer cafe across from the bus station in downtown Raleigh looking for his friend — and the promise of a free coffee. What keeps him coming back months later is a community of people and group sessions that have supported his substance use recovery. (Knopf, 1/8) Â
Emergency doctors in Baltimore are wary of a new additive to street fentanyl that can complicate overdose treatment and prompt severe withdrawal symptoms. (Hille, 1/6)
Yoga alongside standard buprenorphine therapy hastened opioid withdrawal recovery and improved autonomic regulation compared with buprenorphine alone, an early-stage randomized trial in India showed. Among 59 participants with opioid use disorder in the intent-to-treat analysis, those in the yoga group recovered from withdrawal faster than those in the control group, with a median stabilization time of 5 days versus 9 days, respectively, researchers said. (Firth, 1/7)
A new study of over 32,000 US veterans has found that the longer people stay on medications for opioid use disorder (buprenorphine, methadone, or extended-release naltrexone), the greater the probability of short- and medium-term survival. This benefit continues to increase for at least four years of ongoing treatment, considerably longer than most patients currently stay in treatment. (1/8)
