Ontario Study Finds Nearly 1 in 10 Die Within a Year After Nonfatal Opioid Overdose

Overview

• A new JAMA study of 28,488 Ontario patients discharged from emergency departments after nonfatal opioid overdoses found about 9% died within a year and 21% had another overdose.
• Risk clustered soon after discharge, with 0.6% dying and 2% overdosing again within seven days, and 2% dying and 6% overdosing again within 30 days.
• The one-year death rate exceeded pre-fentanyl era estimates of about 5.3% to 5.5%, which the authors linked to the greater toxicity of fentanyl in the unregulated drug supply.
• Researchers urged wider use of opioid agonist treatments that curb cravings, take-home naloxone that reverses overdoses, and on-site addiction specialists in emergency departments; people with a prior overdose faced even higher risk.
• The analysis excluded patients admitted to hospital and overdoses that never reached the ER, which likely understates the true burden, in a country that has recorded more than 55,000 opioid poisoning deaths since 2016.