Midyear overdose death numbers from the Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office show opioid and fentanyl-related deaths have almost doubled over the same time frame last year, putting Lafayette Parish on track to again outpace the previous year’s deaths, our media partners at The Advocate report.
The climb follows a yearslong upward trend. In 2017, there were 25 opioid-related fatal overdoses recorded by the coroner’s office, and five deaths that involved fentanyl. In 2020, the coroner’s office investigated 61 opioid overdose deaths, with 50 involving fentanyl, the newspaper reports.
Coroner’s office data shows there were 46 opioid-related overdose deaths through the end of May 2021. Fentanyl was involved in roughly 83% — 38 — of those deaths. Numbers for May are the most recently available as June and July reports are still pending, Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office Chief Investigator Keith Talamo told the Advocate.
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