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CDC IDs Trends, Characteristics of IMF Overdose Deaths
PRESS RELEASE
The latest MMWR uses data from CDC’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) to describe trends in overdose deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyls (IMFs) during July 2019–December 2020 (29 states and D.C.) and characteristics of IMFs deaths during 2020 (39 states and D.C.).
This report highlights four main findings regarding IMF-involved deaths:
- Deaths increased sharply in Midwestern, Southern, and Western jurisdictions during 2019–2020;
- 56% of people who died had no pulse when first responders arrived, highlighting the need for timely overdose response;
- Evidence of injection was most frequently documented, but a substantial percentage of deaths likely involved snorting, smoking, or ingestion, especially in the West;
- More than 4 in 10 deaths also involved stimulants.
Urgent action is needed to slow and reverse rapid increases in deaths involving IMFs. Actions include enhanced access to treatment for substance use disorder (e.g., medications for opioid use disorder), expanded distribution of naloxone, distribution of fentanyl test strips to test drug products for fentanyl, increased overdose education, and innovative approaches that address the endemic nature of IMFs, non-injection routes of IMF use, and frequent polysubstance use.
