“It’s decreased from last year,” she said.
MORE: Here’s what data say about who is dying from overdoses in Clark County
There were 104 drug-related deaths reviewed by the Clark County Drug Death Review Committee in 2017, according to the Clark County Combined Health District. That was a 25 percent increase from 83 in 2016. Seventy cases were reviewed in 2015.
“The most common age group among individuals who died of a drug overdose in 2017 was 35-44 years, accounting for 27 percent of all overdose deaths,” said Clark County Combined Health District Epidemiologist Anna Jean Petroff. “The next most common age group was 45-54 years, at 24 percent.”
Clark County ranked in the top 10 of all counties in total number of residents dying from a drug overdose, the state numbers show. The Ohio Department of Health found 96 Clark County residents died of an unintentional drug-related overdose in 2017. When adjusted for age, the department gave Clark County a score of 81.
Only Montgomery County and Fayette County scored higher.
Statewide, there were 4,854 accidental drug overdose deaths last year, an increase of about 800 from 2016, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Brown said there is still time left this year, but the numbers of deaths are dropping. There could be a number of reasons why she said.
“The availability of Narcan, efforts by law enforcement and increased awareness in the community,” she said.
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