Note: This story was updated on April 5 to correct the number of suspected nonfatal overdose-related emergency department visits in 2022.
Hamilton County saw a record number of suspected drug-related deaths in 2022, with the synthetic opioid fentanyl contributing to 73% of those fatalities, according to a new report from the county health department.
Drugs killed an estimated 226 people in the county last year, according to the Hamilton County Health Department’s Drug Overdose Surveillance Report, released Monday. That’s up from 176 suspected fatal overdose deaths reported in the county in 2021.
Megan Sloan, epidemiologist at the department, presented the findings during a Regional Health Council meeting Monday, saying that of those deaths involving fentanyl, the drug could be used by itself or alongside other substances.
The highest concentration of suspected overdose deaths occurred in the 37421 ZIP code around East Brainerd, according to the report.