DuPage County Coroner Richard Jorgensen, M.D. reports the following data concerning overdose deaths in DuPage County for the year 2022. The epidemic of opioid and other legal and illegal drugs continues to ravage our county. Over the past few years there has been a major shift in the types and number of drugs found in blood of the deceased. Prior to 2015 the drugs found were either Heroin or prescription drugs. Most often there was only one or two drugs in the system. However, starting in 2015 there was an influx of illicit Fentanyl in the FDA approved form and multiple new isomers. There was also an increase in polypharmacy, which means that there were multiple different drugs found in the system. In the past few years these trends have accentuated. The most important trend is that Heroin is less commonly found, and Fentanyl has become the major drug causing death. It must be stated that the analysis of this years’ data is very difficult due to the variety of drugs found in the deceased blood. It was very unusual for an analysis to find one or two drugs in the system. Rather, it was commonplace to find up to 15 drugs making it difficult to determine which drug was responsible for the death. Therefore, this data will be reported only identify which drugs were present in what number of toxicology reports and not to try and state which drug was responsible for the death.
Overdose Death Data
There were 150 overdose deaths in 2022 with an increase in non-opioid drugs, especially Cocaine and prescription medications causing or contributing to death.
150 = Total overdose deaths
106 = Fentanyl
25 = Heroin
26 = Opioid based Prescription Medications
14 = Alcohol
20 = Amphetamines
19 = Anti-Convulsant
37 = Antidepressants
4 = Sedatives/Hypnotics
18 = Antipsychotics
48 = Benzodiazepines
51 = Cannabinoids
55 = Cocaine
Age of Overdose deaths
The previously noted trend of increasing age of the deceased has continued. In 2013 the most deaths were seen in the age group of the 20s and second most in the 30s. Last year the most common ages were the 30s through the 50s.
| Age | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| <19 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 20-29 | 38 | 24 | 30 |
| 30-39 | 31 | 38 | 40 |
| 40-49 | 18 | 24 | 35 |
| 50-59 | 11 | 35 | 24 |
| 60-69 | 6 | 13 | 14 |
| 70-79 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 80+ | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Overdose Deaths | 130 | 137 (+5%) |
| Total Opioid Overdose | 112 | 102 (-9%) |
| Heroin alone | 5 | 1 |
| Heroin/Fentanyl mixture | 30 | 13 |
| Heroin, Fentanyl and Cocaine | 14 | 17 |
| Fentanyl alone | 33 | 29 |
| Fentanyl and Cocaine | 16 | 16 |
| Opioid Prescription Meds | 9 | 11 |
| Cocaine Only | 6 | 9 |
| Non Opioid overdoses | 18 | 26 |
2019
13 = Heroin alone
42 = Heroin/Fentanyl mixture
33 = Fentanyl alone
8 = Opioid based Prescription Medications
Total deaths (illegal Drugs) = 88 (8.6% increase over totals in 2018)
Total deaths (all opioids) = 96 (2% decrease over totals in 2018)
2018
17 = Heroin alone
34 = Heroin/Fentanyl mixture
30 = Fentanyl alone
17 = Opioid based Prescription Medications
Total deaths (illegal Drugs) = 81 (13% increase over totals in 2017)
Total deaths (all opioids) = 98 (3% increase over totals in 2017)
2017
23 = Heroin alone
32 = Heroin/Fentanyl mixture
17 = Fentanyl alone
23 =Opioid based Prescription Medications
Total deaths (illegal Drugs) = 72
Total deaths (all opioids) = 95
2016
36 = Heroin alone
26 = Heroin/Fentanyl mixture
16 = Fentanyl alone
17 = Opioid based Prescription Medications
Total deaths (illegal Drugs) = 78
Total deaths (all opioids) = 95
2015
36 = Heroin alone
7 = Heroin/Fentanyl mixture
8 = Fentanyl alone
Total deaths=51
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