KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — The number of people killed in Kalamazoo County by the powerful opioid fentanyl increased nearly six-fold from 2015 to 2017, a new report concludes.
The Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department released its 2019 drug and opioid report Monday, outlining three years of data surrounding the prescription drug epidemic. The agency found fentanyl-related deaths in the county rose from six in 2015 to 35 in 2017.
Also spiking: methamphetamine-related deaths. Health officials say 16 people died from meth in 2017 — more than five times higher than 2015’s death rate from meth.
The number of emergency room visits in Kalamazoo County for opioid-related issues peaked in 2016 at 350, averaging to nearly one opioid overdose case a day. Most of those visits were for heroin-related overdoses, which tripled among men and nearly tripled among women from 2015 to 2017.