Health
NYC Overdose Deaths Surge Above Record 3,000, Driven by Fentanyl
Health department officials said 85% of the drug overdose deaths in 2022 involved opioids and that 81% included fentanyl, a powerful painkiller.
Photographer: Thomas Simonetti/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
More than 3,000 New Yorkers died of drug overdoses in 2022, the highest number since the city began keeping records more than two decades ago, as the synthetic opioid fentanyl takes an increasing toll.
The total was 12% higher than the 2,696 overdose deaths recorded in 2021, the city Health Department announced this week. New York began keeping records in 2000.