Opioid Crisis & Addiction Management – Focus on New York

Opioid Crisis: By The Numbers

U.S. — Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States.¹

• In the U.S. there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in 2016and Opioids killed 42,000+ Americans; about 115 people per day; 5 times more than in 1999.²

Northeast—Between 2015 and 2016, the incidence of death from drug overdose increased significantly in the Northeast, Midwest and South Census Regions.²

New York State — InNew York from 2010 to 2015 the opioid overdose death rate doubled and the heroin death rate increased by over five times.³

• In 2016, the death rate in New York was 15.1 per 100,000 persons (national rate was 13.3).⁴

• In one year, from 2015 to 2016, drug deaths in New York State increased 29 percent — from 3,009 total deaths to 3,894.⁵

• In 2015, New York was in the top 10 states with the highest total health care costs from opioid abuse — with $1,256 million in costs.⁶

New York City — In NYC, every seven hours, someone dies of a drug overdose.

• More New Yorkers die of drug overdoses than homicides, suicides, and motor vehicle crashes combined.

• Overdose deaths in New York City (NYC) have increased for seven consecutive years.

• Fentanyl, a highly potent opioid, continues to be involved in approximately half of all overdose deaths.

• Opioids are involved in more than 80% of all overdose deaths.⁷

Stemming the Crisis Through Medication Assisted Treatment

The consensus best-practice approach for opioid addiction treatment is Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), which combines drug therapy (methadone, buprenorphine, or extended-release, injectable naltrexone) counseling and behavioral therapies.⁸

• MAT = Medication + Psychological Services + Medical Services + Social Services⁸

• In MAT, medication helps to mediate physiological impacts of addictive substances; counseling and behavioral therapies address psychosocial factors related to addiction, as well as practical challenges many people struggling with addiction have to face along the path to whole life recovery.⁸

• MAT has been shown to deliver a 75% reduction in risk of addiction-related death among individuals who received MAT vs. those who did not.¹

• MAT is also associated with increasedtreatment retention, patient survival and employment rates; improved birth outcomes; and decreasedopioid use, criminal activity, and risk of HIV and
Hep C.⁸

• According to NIH leaders, “the safety and efficacy of MAT has been unequivocally established. …[M]ethadone 
maintenance coupled with relevant social, medical and psychological services has the highest probability of being the most effective of all treatments for opioid addiction.”¹