Fentanyl-Related Deaths On The Rise In Milwaukee County

There has been a roughly 48 percent increase in fentanyl deaths in Milwaukee County in 2017.

Last year, Milwaukee County recorded 97 deaths involving fentanyl, so far this year there have been 144.

Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid pain medication, has been involved — either as the sole drug or in combination with other drugs — with roughly 56 percent of all opioid deaths in the county this year.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office compiles data on these deaths. According to its data, there has been a steady increase since 2011, when there were only 16 deaths attributed to fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a growing problem that’s impacting communities, said Sara Schreiber, forensic technical director at the medical examiner’s toxicology lab.

“It’s coming in quick and the concentration is high, the potency is high,” Schreiber said. “The availability of the drug is very easy. It’s cheap; so all of those things are fueling the fact that this is becoming a major concern and crisis for not just our county in Milwaukee, but across the state of Wisconsin and the United States as a whole.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Friday about fentanyl deaths in 2016 from July to December. Data from 10 states, including Wisconsin, was analyzed. During that time period, 124 people who died tested positive for fentanyl, the CDC said in an email. There were 413 opioid overdose deaths during that same time period, of which fentanyl overdoses made up 30 percent.

Schreiber said she was surprised back in 2011 when she started to see an increase in fentanyl-related deaths.

“The original concern partly stemmed from the fact that I believe the individuals that were using it didn’t know it was present with the heroin or with the other drugs that they were using,” she said. “So they were unsuspecting, which makes it very dangerous.”

Fentanyl is an opioid known for its potency; it’s around 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.