DiNapoli Reports On Opioid Death Increase In NY

Heroin use in New York has exceeded national averages, and the death rate from the dangerous drug has also surpassed national trends. The report from Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is the latest to detail the growing problem of heroin in New York and how the state has outpaced other states in opioid abuse. Overdose deaths in New York in which heroin was a factor hit a record of 825 in 2014, a 24 percent increase from 2013, DiNapoli said, citing federal statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report comes on the heels of state figures released last month by the state Health Department that showed the number of opioid-related deaths rose 47 percent in New York between 2010 and 2014, fueled by the growth in heroin abuse. Those figures showed a total of 5,860 opioid-related deaths between 2010 and 2014, up from 2,931 from 2003 through 2007.
Deaths from heroin and prescription narcotic overdoses reached record highs in New York in 2014, and rose faster over the previous decade than in most other states in the nation, a report out Thursday from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says. Overdose deaths in New York involving heroin reached a record high of 825 in 2014, the latest year for which data are available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.