2023 set to be deadliest year yet for overdoses in King County

King County is headed towards a somber milestone. This year is slated to become the deadliest on record for overdoses in the county.

"The amount of people who have died of overdose death in 2023 looks like it's definitely going to surpass that of 2022,” said Brad Finegood, strategic advisor on behavioral health for Public Health – Seattle & King County.

There were 1,001 overdose deaths recorded in King County in 2022. This year, as of Friday afternoon, that number sits at 997. Given the rate of overdoses, it won’t be long before the county surpasses last year’s total.

The number of people dying of overdose has risen dramatically in recent years. The spike has largely been driven by the rise in fentanyl — a deadly, synthetic opioid that's widely available and very cheap.

Finegood said roughly 80% of overdose deaths so far in 2023 are fentanyl-related, up from about 70% last year, and 50% in 2021.

In 2015, King County saw only three fentanyl-related deaths. In 2023, 816 people, so far, have died from fentanyl-related overdoses, already eclipsing last year's total attributed to the opioid.

Finegood said fentanyl was relatively late to hit King County compared to other communities, especially on the East Coast, which saw deaths spiking earlier.

Part of the reason, he said, is that the drug supply here was different.

“We had a form of heroin that was really tough to mix fentanyl in and so what we’ve seen in our community is an inundation of products that were only fentanyl,” he said.

Finegood said the county is keeping a close eye on the drug supply in order to alert the community if new threats arise. He said one thing people can do is carry the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan.

Finegood said the county continues to work to lower barriers to treatment, medications, and services to help keep people alive.