Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023
Do the latest annual statistics show 1,400 people in Wisconsin died of opioid overdoses?
In 2021, the latest full year of final data available, there were 1,427 deaths in Wisconsin related to opioids, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported.
Provisional department data show there were 1,358 opioid overdose or poisoning deaths in 2022.
Overdoses occur when someone takes too much of a recommended amount of a substance, such as a prescription drug. Poisoning more accurately describes a scenario in which someone unknowingly ingests fentanyl while believing they are taking a legitimate opioid.
Synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, cause the vast majority of Wisconsin opioid deaths, according to the health department.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin cited the 2021 statistic in an Aug. 14 interview.
Baldwin cosponsored a bipartisan bill introduced in April that aims to reduce fentanyl trafficking by imposing sanctions on transnational criminal organizations.
No votes have been taken on the bill, but in June it was placed on the Senate’s legislative calendar.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin Department Of Health Services Dose of Reality: Opioids Data
- Wisconsin Watch Fentanyl in Wisconsin: Drug killing over 1,000 people each year
- Wisconsin Department Of Health Services Public Health Advisory: Fentanyl Increasingly Present in Overdose Deaths in Wisconsin
- Spreaker Interview- Senator Tammy Baldwin (4:00)
- Sen. Tammy Baldwin Baldwin Joins Bipartisan Bill to Target Fentanyl Supply Chain
- US Congress S.1271 - FEND Off Fentanyl Act
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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