© 2024 WFSU Public Media
WFSU News · Tallahassee · Panama City · Thomasville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fentanyl Deaths Drive Medical Examiners Report

Alex Proimos via wikimedia commons

Florida’s medical examiners are seeing a precipitous rise in fentanyl deaths.  They recently published their interim 2016 report on drug-related fatalities.

The Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons report compiles toxicology results for almost 5400 people across the first six months of 2016.  Stephen Nelson is the Polk County medical examiner and chairs the state board.  He explains incidents of the drug have almost doubled, and deaths tied to fentanyl or its analogs have risen by 139 percent.

“All of the medical examiners’ offices in the state of Florida are seeing a tremendous increase in drug deaths,” Nelson says, “and they are largely led by fentanyl and the fentanyl analogs—the drugs that are made with fentanyl as the basis for them.”

Statewide there were 805 cases where the drug was present or the cause of death.  Nelson explains the report distinguishes between a drug being present and being the cause of death.

“Far and away fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, are the cause of death,” Nelson says. 

“Not just that they’re present—they actually cause the death.”

The state Legislature recently approved a measure elevating penalties for possession and trafficking in fentanyl.  The bill is waiting for Governor Rick Scott’s signature.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.