BACKGROUND: Since 2013, an increase in illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) produced an epidemic of overdose deaths in the United States. Despite the nation’s second highest drug overdose death rate in 2014, New Mexico had not experienced a similar increase. In August 2016, after multiple IMF-related overdose deaths, the New Mexico Department of Health initiated a statewide investigation of overdose deaths in New Mexico during 2015–2016 to characterize fentanyl-related deaths.
METHODS: Death data were obtained from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. A case was defined as any drug overdose death among a New Mexico resident during January 1, 2015–October 31, 2016, and fentanyl or fentanyl analogs on toxicology results. Demographic, circumstantial, and toxicological data were abstracted. Scene and toxicological information were used to classify exposures by likely type of fentanyl (IMF, pharmaceutical fentanyl [PF], or unknown fentanyl [UF]).
RESULTS: We identified 39 cases (21 in 2015, 18 in 2016); 8 (21%) were exposed to IMF, 18 (46%) to PF, and 13 (33%) to UF. All IMF cases occurred in 2016; 17/18 PF cases occurred in 2015. Approximately 80% of IMF and UF cases were among men; >50% of PF cases were among women. Median age was 23 years among IMF-exposed cases; among PF- and UF-exposed cases, median age was 43 and 42 years, respectively. Half of IMF-exposed cases were white, whereas 90% of PF and UF cases were white.
CONCLUSIONS: During 2015–2016 in New Mexico, IMF overdose deaths increased, whereas PF overdose deaths decreased. While New Mexico did not experience a substantial increase in fentanyl-related overdose deaths, maintaining surveillance for fentanyl-related overdose deaths to rapidly identify potential outbreaks is essential.