Health

  • Home
  • Business
    • Internet
    • Market
    • Stock
  • Parent Category
    • Child Category 1
      • Sub Child Category 1
      • Sub Child Category 2
      • Sub Child Category 3
    • Child Category 2
    • Child Category 3
    • Child Category 4
  • Featured
  • Health
    • Childcare
    • Doctors
  • Home
  • Business
    • Internet
    • Market
    • Stock
  • Downloads
    • Dvd
    • Games
    • Software
      • Office
  • Parent Category
    • Child Category 1
      • Sub Child Category 1
      • Sub Child Category 2
      • Sub Child Category 3
    • Child Category 2
    • Child Category 3
    • Child Category 4
  • Featured
  • Health
    • Childcare
    • Doctors
  • Uncategorized

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Teen drug overdoses hit record high, driven primarily by fentanyl poisoning, says new report

 January 11, 2024     Health, Health News Today on Fox News     No comments   

A record number of high school teens died of drug overdoses in 2022 in an alarming trend driven primarily by fentanyl poisonings from counterfeit pills, according to a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Boston researchers found that an average of 22 adolescents ages 14 to 18 years old died each week in the U.S. from drug overdoses in 2022. 

The death rate for drug overdoses among teens is more than double what it was in 2018, according to the study, which is entitled "The Overdose Crisis Among U.S. Adolescents."

5 MYTHS ABOUT KETAMINE, THE DRUG TIED TO MATTHEW PERRY'S DEATH, ACCORDING TO DOCTORS

A total of 1,125 teens died of drug overdose or poisoning in 2022, making it the third-leading cause of death for teenagers across the country – behind firearm-related injuries and motor vehicle crashes, respectively, the report said.

"Fewer teens than ever are actively using drugs, and yet more teens than ever are dying," senior author Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and Harvard Medical School, told Fox News.

"And that's because drug use isn't becoming more common — it’s becoming more dangerous."

In 2002, 21% of high-school seniors said they had used an illicit drug besides cannabis in the previous year. 

By 2022, that share had fallen to 8%.

PARENTS PREPPING FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL TIME ARE URGED TO TALK TO KIDS ABOUT DRUGS: 'FAR-REACHING IMPLICATIONS'

Meanwhile, at least 75% of adolescent drug overdose deaths are from fentanyl poisonings, the researchers found. 

As other studies have found, those poisonings primarily occur when teens inadvertently take counterfeit pills laced with a lethal dose of the synthetic opioid.

"It’s really clear that the problems started to take off a little bit before COVID and then really accelerated during the COVID pandemic," Hadland told Fox.

"Teens were isolated and they weren't able to go to school or engage in the usual activities — and we know that health care systems became more difficult to access."

Now, there’s no sign of this trend reversing or slowing.

The study identified Arizona, Colorado and Washington as the hotspot states. There, adolescent drug overdose death rates were nearly twice the national average or higher between 2020 and 2022. 

Hotspot counties included Maricopa County, Arizona, and Los Angeles County, California, which had the highest number of overdose deaths (117 and 111, respectively).

In March 2021, 17-year-old Xavier Gerchow was playing basketball with a friend before he died of fentanyl poisoning.

When Gerchow felt sore after playing, his friend offered to split a Percocet with him. Gerchow later went to sleep at his home and never woke up. 

Gerchow’s friend was rushed to the hospital and survived, but Gerchow did not.

The Percocet turned out to be a fake — it contained 99% fentanyl and 1% cocaine. 

"The friend did not pass away from the pill because he had a tolerance to fentanyl," Madison Gerchow, Xavier’s sister, told Fox. "But Xavier passed away within minutes because he had a clean system."

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Experts recommend that parents discuss the dangers of counterfeit pills and keep over-the-counter Naloxone or Narcan – the overdose reversal medicine – readily available at home. 

Research has shown that about two-thirds of teens who die of an overdose pass away in their homes. 

"Often, health insurance will cover it with little to no co-pay, and I recommend that parents and teens keep this in their homes in a central location, just like you would a fire extinguisher," Hadland suggested.

While the doctor recommends that parents emphasize to their teens that they should stay drug-free, he also encourages parents to have frank conversations about risk reduction strategies for those experimenting with drugs. 

"We can't use scare tactics … [or] fearmongering, because when we're overly dramatic, it turns teens off," Hadland noted. "Studies show that when we're overly dramatic, teens will sometimes do the opposite of what we hope they'll do."

Madison Gerchow started the X Foundation in honor of her only brother, Xavier. 

The foundation aims to remove the stigma surrounding fentanyl poisoning by raising awareness and providing education about the epidemic.

"I wish we had educated Xavier or ourselves and friends," Gerchow said. 

"If Narcan was in our home, this could have been a very different reality."

For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health. 



from Health News Today on Fox News https://ift.tt/7wUG4cO
  • Share This:  
  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Google+
  •  Stumble
  •  Digg
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook

Related Posts:

  • FOX NEWS: E-cigarettes damage blood vessels even if devices don’t contain nicotine, study finds E-cigarettes damage blood vessels even if devices don’t contain nicotine, study finds Often touted as a safer alternative to cigarettes, e-cigaret… Read More
  • Las Vegas strip visitors warned of possible measles exposure: health officialsHeads up, Las Vegas visitors: If you took a trip to Sin City earlier this month, you may have been exposed to measles.  from FOX News https://if… Read More
  • Man's beloved dog dies just 15 minutes after owner's cancer death, family saysIt was a tragic twist for an already heartbroken family. from FOX News https://ift.tt/30mVNub … Read More
  • FOX NEWS: Man's beloved dog dies just 15 minutes after owner's cancer death, family says Man's beloved dog dies just 15 minutes after owner's cancer death, family says It was a tragic twist for an already heartbroken family. via FOX N… Read More
  • Blood test can predict if you'll die in next 10 years, researchers claimIf you could find out when you were likely to die, would you? from FOX News https://ift.tt/2Hix7eK … Read More
Newer Post Older Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

  • Ozempic ‘microdosing’ is the new weight-loss trend: Should you try it?
    A new trend gaining popularity among people trying to lose weight is microdosing the diabetes medication Ozempic. With approximately 70% of...
  • Helping Stroke Patients Regain Movement in their Hands
    By BY PAM BELLUCK from NYT Health https://ift.tt/6uNPHMD
  • As eating disorders increase among college students, here's how parents can help: ‘Early intervention is key’
    While most of us have heard about the "Freshman 15" — the stereotypical first-year weight gain among college students — a growing ...

Recent Posts

Categories

  • Health News Today on Fox News
  • FOX NEWS
  • Fox News : Health
  • Health
  • Health News Today on Fox News
  • Healthy tips
  • NYT

Unordered List

Pages

  • Home

Text Widget

Blog Archive

  • June 2025 (48)
  • May 2025 (88)
  • April 2025 (84)
  • March 2025 (88)
  • February 2025 (70)
  • January 2025 (72)
  • December 2024 (81)
  • November 2024 (70)
  • October 2024 (82)
  • September 2024 (75)
  • August 2024 (82)
  • July 2024 (79)
  • June 2024 (74)
  • May 2024 (73)
  • April 2024 (78)
  • March 2024 (75)
  • February 2024 (78)
  • January 2024 (78)
  • December 2023 (60)
  • November 2023 (80)
  • October 2023 (74)
  • September 2023 (75)
  • August 2023 (85)
  • July 2023 (67)
  • June 2023 (58)
  • May 2023 (100)
  • April 2023 (105)
  • March 2023 (118)
  • February 2023 (84)
  • January 2023 (87)
  • December 2022 (69)
  • November 2022 (64)
  • October 2022 (78)
  • September 2022 (74)
  • August 2022 (110)
  • July 2022 (109)
  • June 2022 (127)
  • May 2022 (95)
  • April 2022 (109)
  • March 2022 (140)
  • February 2022 (138)
  • January 2022 (170)
  • December 2021 (182)
  • November 2021 (213)
  • October 2021 (506)
  • September 2021 (539)
  • August 2021 (564)
  • July 2021 (590)
  • June 2021 (556)
  • May 2021 (544)
  • April 2021 (310)
  • March 2021 (331)
  • February 2021 (301)
  • January 2021 (326)
  • December 2020 (521)
  • November 2020 (403)
  • October 2020 (537)
  • September 2020 (554)
  • August 2020 (431)
  • July 2020 (647)
  • June 2020 (610)
  • May 2020 (659)
  • April 2020 (681)
  • March 2020 (729)
  • February 2020 (564)
  • January 2020 (483)
  • December 2019 (396)
  • November 2019 (416)
  • October 2019 (526)
  • September 2019 (486)
  • August 2019 (441)
  • July 2019 (394)
  • June 2019 (381)
  • May 2019 (510)
  • April 2019 (471)
  • March 2019 (560)
  • February 2019 (403)
  • January 2019 (530)
  • December 2018 (382)
  • November 2018 (378)
  • October 2018 (510)
  • September 2018 (297)
Powered by Blogger.

Report Abuse

Formulir Kontak



Search This Blog

Find Us On Facebook

Labels

  • Health News Today on Fox News
  • FOX NEWS
  • Fox News : Health
  • Health
  • Health News Today on Fox News
  • Healthy tips
  • NYT

Flickr Images

Most Popular

  • Ozempic ‘microdosing’ is the new weight-loss trend: Should you try it?
    A new trend gaining popularity among people trying to lose weight is microdosing the diabetes medication Ozempic. With approximately 70% of...
  • Helping Stroke Patients Regain Movement in their Hands
    By BY PAM BELLUCK from NYT Health https://ift.tt/6uNPHMD
  • As eating disorders increase among college students, here's how parents can help: ‘Early intervention is key’
    While most of us have heard about the "Freshman 15" — the stereotypical first-year weight gain among college students — a growing ...
  • Pioneer of America's global HIV/AIDS program recalls hope after years of despair
    Through his office window at what was then one of Africa's few modern clinics dealing with HIV and AIDS , the man who now oversees the U...
  • Free COVID tests will again be available from US government starting next week
    The U.S. government is reactivating the program that mails free COVID-19 tests to Americans' homes upon request. Effective Sept. 25, h...
  • New COVID vaccine push is ‘anti-human,’ says Florida surgeon general: ‘Major safety concern’
    The new COVID-19 vaccine is now available at participating pharmacies and health care providers, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ...
  • AI tech aims to help patients catch disease early even reverse their biological age
    In humanity's quest to live longer, healthier lives, technology — particularly artificial intelligence — is playing an ever-bigger role...
  • US scores D+ for preterm birth rates, says new report: ‘Falling further behind’
    The rate of preterm births remains alarmingly high in the U.S., according to the latest March of Dimes Report Card. The figure was around ...
  • FOX NEWS: Vermont fertility doctor accused of using his own sperm to inseminate woman 41 years ago: lawsuit
    Vermont fertility doctor accused of using his own sperm to inseminate woman 41 years ago: lawsuit A child conceived in 1977 through art...
  • Carbon monoxide deaths are climbing, putting families in peril: ‘My son is lucky to be alive’
    Often dubbed "the silent killer," carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless — it’s been shown to cause severe injury or death in h...

Sample Text

Copyright © 2025 Health | Powered by Blogger
Design by Hardeep Asrani | Blogger Theme by NewBloggerThemes.com | Distributed By Gooyaabi Templates