Overdose Problem Gets the Attention of Health Officials

Fatal overdoses linked to a powerful opioid nearly tripled in West Virginia last year. The Gazette-Mail reports that overdoses caused by fentanyl increased from 55 deaths in 2014 to 154 deaths last year. West Virginia’s Bureau of Public Health commissioner Dr. Rahul Gupta says people can overdose and die more quickly with fentanyl. The drug is an opioid that is sometimes laced with heroin and is stronger than prescription morphine. Kanawha and Cabell counties had the most fentanyl-related deaths with 33 each. West Virginia has the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation.