San Francisco overdose deaths plummet

By Catherine Ho, Health Care Reporter
Oct 16, 2024

The number of people in San Francisco who died from accidental overdoses of fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid at the heart of the nation’s overdose epidemic, fell to a four-year low in September — a bright spot after years of the drug’s escalating devastation. 

Twenty-three people died from fentanyl overdoses last month, according to preliminary figures released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Wednesday. That is the lowest number since the city began releasing monthly overdose data in January 2020. 

Forty-one people died from overdoses overall in September, a significant drop from last year, when the average monthly overdose deaths soared to more than 70.

To date in 2024, the preliminary data shows overdose deaths are down 20% compared with 2023; fentanyl deaths are down 32%.    

Officials attributed the decline to the expansion of treatment options, including the creation of a nighttime pilot program that connects people in the Tenderloin with a doctor over the phone who can prescribe buprenorphine, a prescription medication for opioid use disorder, on the spot. It also offers unhoused people a shelter bed to stay at for a week as they start medication.   

The program began in March and is now expanding its hours to 8 a.m. to midnight, and anyone in San Francisco can access it during those hours. Since March, overdose deaths and fentanyl deaths have fallen about 37% and 39%, respectively, according to three-month averages.

“We hope this downward trend will continue,” San Francisco Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax said at a news conference Wednesday announcing the expansion of the on-demand treatment program. “This is the first program in the state to make life-saving treatment so available. Our pilot was a success, which is why we’re expanding this program.” 

About 40% of people who sought buprenorphine through the program picked up their prescription, more than double the national pick-up rate of 18%, Colfax said.

“It’s saving lives, giving people second, third and fourth chances,” Mayor London Breed said.

Reach Catherine Ho: cho@sfchronicle.com

Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/san-francisco-overdose-deaths-plummet-19839585.php