Data from the Connecticut Department of Public Health shows suspected overdose deaths have jumped from the same time last year.
Connecticut has seen about 550 overdose deaths in the first six months, with 380 more suspected cases pending confirmation.
Dr. Andrew Newfield is chairman of psychiatry at St. Vincent’s Hospital. He said pandemic isolation and distress makes people revert back to unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Of the confirmed fatal overdoses in 2021, more than 80% involved fentanyl. That’s an opioid nearly 50 times as strong as heroin.
