Fatal Drug Overdoses Decline

While in the midst of what many have called an opioid epidemic, the 2018 rate of drug overdose deaths has declined by at least 12 percent compared to 2017 in Chautauqua County.

Breeanne Agett, epidemilogy manager at the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services, shared data with The Post-Journal that indicates the decline could be as much as 68 percent for the first eight months of 2018, a figure dependent on how many pending overdose investigations turn into drug-induced fatalities.