The Allegheny County, PA Coroner’s Office reports that official Allegheny Country 2017 drug deaths exceeded those in 2016. The County’s drug deaths from 2016 also exceeded those in 2015, which exceeded those in 2014, an alarming trend. So far, 652 Allegheny County drug-related overdose deaths have been verified for 2017.
Approximately 100 additional 2017 deaths may be added to the official count after toxicology test results for those deaths are received. The Allegheny County Coroner utilizes a pending cause of death status on death certificates for all suspected drug overdose cases. This enables the Coroner to provide information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for specific drugs involved in overdose deaths.
In 2017, at least 75% of Allegheny County overdose deaths involved analogs of the opioid fentanyl. Analogs are altered forms of a drug, such as fentanyl, that illicit drug makers create in the hope of avoiding classification of the drug as illegal. (In late 2017, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) adopted emergency measures to temporarily classify all fentanyl analogs as controlled substances in an attempt to prevent this avoidance of illegality by analog producers, distributors, and possessors.) While many official Allegheny County 2017 drug deaths involved more than one opioid or other controlled substance, many others resulted from use of fentanyl analogs, alone.
Data related to official Allegheny County 2017 drug deaths show that the number of drug overdoses in Allegheny County are significantly higher than those in many other Pennsylvania counties. As an example, reports received from some Pennsylvania counties for 2017 indicate:
- 652 drug overdoses in Allegheny County, PA (with others pending)
- 190 drug overdoses in Westmoreland County, PA
- 92 drug overdoses in Butler County, PA
- 67 drug overdoses in Fayette County, PA
- 54 drug overdoses in Lawrence County, PA
Feldman & Pinto: Allegheny County Opioid Litigation Lawyers
Feldman & Pinto offers representation to individuals who have suffered personal injuries as a result of opioid addiction. The firm also offers opioid epidemic representation to Allegheny County, other Pennsylvania governmental entities, Pennsylvania hospitals, Pennsylvania labor unions, and Pennsylvania insurance companies that have incurred excess costs due to the opioid epidemic.
Contact Feldman & Pinto.