Accidental overdoses cause 90% of all U.S. opioid-related deaths while suicides account for far fewer of these fatalities than previously thought, a new analysis published Tuesday suggests.
Rising use of heroin and illicit, highly potent synthetic opioids including fentanyl has likely contributed to the unintentional death rate, which surged nine-fold between 2000 and 2017, the researchers said. Opioid suicides also went up during that time but their share of all opioid-related deaths shrank.
In 2017, opioid-related deaths totaled about 47,500 and included 43,000 accidental deaths and 1,880 suicides. The cause of about 2,590 deaths could not be determined.