NYC Drug Overdose Stats Down, Fentanyl Still Top Killer
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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - New York City's Health Department says overdose deaths decreased in the city for the first time in eight years.
A total of 1,444 people died in 2018 from an overdose, 38 fewer than in 2017.
These decreases were not felt evenly throughout the city. The number of overdose deaths fell among Brooklyn and Queens residence, but rose among the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island.
Most of the overdoses involved fentanyl.
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Dr. Oxiris Barbot
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The Health Department says it has distributed throughout the city 230,000 Naloxone kits which can counter the effects of an overdose.
It also expanded access to treatment for opioid use and doubled funding for syringe service programs.
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