Drug Induced Deaths in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

More than 74,500 drug induced deaths, or about 22.7 drug induced deaths per 100,000 population, were recorded in the United States in 2019.  Nearly 95% of these fatalities were related to drug overdoses, both accidental and intentional.  In the twenty years from 1999 to 2019, the drug induced death count in the U.S. surged by over 50,000 per year, while the death rate per 100,000 population more than tripled. While all regions of the country experienced sharp increases in their drug induced death counts in the twenty years from 1999 to 2019, the experience in the Mid-Eastern U.S. region was even worse.  From a drug induced death rate per 100,000 population that was 16% above the national average in 1999, by 2019 the region's drug induced death rate had surged to a level that was 29% higher than the national average.  An examination of data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reveals the following about drug induced deaths in the Mid-Eastern U.S.:

Drug Induced Deaths in the Mid-Eastern U.S.

State/Deaths	1999	2009	2019
DE	55	139	442
DC	55	58	319
MD	660	768	2,421
NJ	757	343	2,867
NY	1,102	1,797	3,814
PA	1,049	1,983	4,475
Region	3,678	5,088	14,338
U.S.	19,128	39,147	74,511
State/Death Rate*	1999	2009	2019
DE	7.1	15.6	45.4
DC	9.6	9.8	45.2
MD	12.6	13.4	40.0
NJ	9.1	3.9	32.3
NY	5.8	9.3	19.6
PA	8.6	15.7	35.0
Region	8.0	10.6	29.3
U.S.	6.9	12.8	22.7

(*) number of drug induced deaths per 100,000 population

Source: CDC Wonder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2019 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2020. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2019, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed on June 5, 2021