Earlier this year, the Florida Medical Examiners released its 2022 annual report. For the first time in 12 years, the report showed a small decrease of 3% in deaths caused by fentanyl. More recently, the Florida Medical Examiners issued its interim report for the first six months of 2023. According to that report, the number of deaths caused by fentanyl in Florida was down approximately 7% as compared to the same time period in 2022.
On a local level, Collier County experienced a decrease. There was a 14% reduction in fentanyl caused deaths when compared to the same time period in 2022.
This is a welcome trend after so many years of increases. The Medical Examiners first included fentanyl-caused deaths in its 2003 annual report, reporting 124 deaths. Since then, the number of deaths caused by fentanyl in Florida has increased over 4,000%, reaching 5,622 in 2022…