Tuesday, September 19, 2017

MEDICAL EXAMINER RELEASES ANNUAL HEROIN,
OPIOID AND FENTANYL OVERDOSE DATA
The Monroe County Office of the Medical Examiner today released annualized data pertaining
to deaths directly attributable to the use of heroin, opioids, fentanyl, or other related substances.
“As Medical Examiner, I am releasing these data in the full interest of public transparency and
accountability,” said Dr. Nadia Granger, Monroe County Medical Examiner. “A
comprehensive review of heroin and opioid related deaths in our region was completed by our
Office. We took extraordinary caution in properly attributing the cause of death in all cases to
ensure the data generated is both accurate and reliable. Moving forward, we will review the
viability of releasing more periodic reports on a recurring basis.”
“These data speak to the tragic human impact of the heroin and opioid crisis, not just in our
region, but across our state and nation,” said Dr. Michael Mendoza, Monroe County
Commissioner of Public Health. “While these data are being made public today, after extensive
efforts to ensure accuracy and reliability, the Monroe County Department of Public Health has
been operating with full knowledge of the underlying trends for some time. The information has
helped to guide our proactive approach to dealing with the crisis, from offering public Narcan
training to working collaboratively through the Monroe County Opioid Task Force. This will
continue to be a top public health and safety priority.”
“It is unfortunate that some have chosen to play politics with statistics related to overdose
deaths. The data is being released now to prevent it from being used as a political football by
those who would seek to abuse it for partisan gain. Out of respect for the sensitivity of the opioid
crisis and in light of the politics at play, Monroe County will withhold further comment on the
data at this time,” said Jesse Sleezer, Director of Communications for Monroe County.
The data reflects that 206 deaths across the ten county region serviced by the Office of the
Medical Examiner were directly attributable to the use of heroin, opioids, fentanyl, or related
other substances in 2016. (Table 1) The data reflects only those individuals whose cause of death
was solely attributed to the substances involved. It does not include deaths wherein these
substances were present, but the cause of death was attributed to some other cause or injury (e.g.,
driving under the influence of drugs leading to a fatal crash).

MEDICAL EXAMINER RELEASES OVERDOSE DATA

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 Table 1. Total number of Monroe County Office of the Medical Examiner
deaths solely related to heroin, opioids, fentanyl, and/or related substances

Year
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

Total Number of Deaths
11
30
67
95
85
206

Of the 206 total deaths, 169 occurred in Monroe County, while 37 occurred in surrounding
counties that contract for autopsy services with the Office of the Medical Examiner (Table 2). It
should be noted that the deaths occurring outside of Monroe County likely do not represent the
total number of heroin/opioid/fentanyl related deaths occurring in those counties, as not all cases
from those counties were submitted to the Monroe County Office of the Medical Examiner. The
deaths originated throughout the region, in both urban and suburban/rural areas. (Figure 1).
Table 2. Number of deaths related solely to overdose from heroin, opioids, fentanyl,
and/or related substances, organized by county where the death occurred.

County of Death
Monroe
Allegany
Chemung
Genesee
Livingston
Ontario
Orleans
Steuben
Wyoming
Yates

2011-2013
78
0
11
0
3
4
1
4
7
0

MEDICAL EXAMINER RELEASES OVERDOSE DATA

Number of Deaths
2014
2015
81
0
2
3
3
2
1
3
0
0

69
2
3
2
1
3
0
2
2
1

2016
169
0
0
0
8
0
9
13
7
0

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 Figure 1. Heat map of death event locations by zip code.
Color intensity is proportional to the number of deaths originating from the region in 2016

In 2016, the age range of the victims of heroin/opioid/fentanyl overdose ranged from under 20 to
76 with a median age of 35 (Figure 2). Median ages for 2011-2013, 2014, and 2015 were 31, 36,
and 36, respectively. The 2016 deaths represent a 2.4-fold increase from 2015, and a 1.8-fold
increase over 2011-2013 combined.
Figure 2. Age distribution and total deaths related to heroin, opioids, fentanyl, and/or related substances by year(s).
2011-2013

2014

2015

2016

50
Total Deaths

Number of Deaths

250

40
30
20

200
150
100
50
0

10
0
<20

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70+

Age Range

Heroin, opioids, fentanyl, cocaine, and alcohol are frequently encountered together in
postmortem cases. (Table 3). Among the 206 cases analyzed, there was both a mean and median
of two of these four substances that were listed as direct contributors to the cause of death. The
public should be cautioned about the risks of taking multiple drugs and/or combining drugs with
alcohol—as well as the fact that illicit drugs may contain unknown mixtures of compounds
and produce unexpected or exaggerated effects.

MEDICAL EXAMINER RELEASES OVERDOSE DATA

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 Table 3. Number of 2016 cases for which common substances were listed in the cause of death.

Compound / Drug Class

Fentanyl/Analogs
U-47700
Heroin
Morphine
Cocaine
Alcohol
Benzodiazepines
Oxycodonea
Gabapentin
Methadone
Cyclobenzaprine
Amphetaminesb
Ketamine

Number of Cases

Percent of Heroin/Morphine/Fentanyl
Overdose Deaths
80.6%
10.2%
48.1%
12.6%
49.0%
18.4%
17.5%
6.8%
6.3%
3.4%
2.9%
2.9%
1.9%

166
21
99
26
101
38
36
14
13
7
6
6
4

aNote:

these data do not include deaths attributed to oxycodone in the absence of heroin/morphine or
fentanyl/analogs.
bIncludes amphetamine, methamphetamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy)

###
Media inquiries, contact:
Director of Communications Jesse Sleezer at (585) 402-8019
Department of Communications at (585) 753-1080

MEDICAL EXAMINER RELEASES OVERDOSE DATA

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