By Lynn Arditi
Journal Staff Writer
Posted Apr. 28, 2015 @ 2:12 pm
Updated Apr 28, 2015 at 4:33 PM
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Massachusetts health officials said Tuesday that more than 1,000 deaths in 2014 are likely related to opioid overdoses, but the overdose death rate is still lower than Rhode Island’s.
Based on those projections, Massachusetts’ opioid-related overdose rate is projected at 14.9 deaths per 100,000 related to prescription opioids and heroin, compared with a rate of 20.4 in Rhode Island, according to a Providence Journal analysis of data. The national average rate in 2013 was 7.7 deaths per 100,000 according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, which is the most recent data available.
Massachusetts health officials also reported the number of overdose deaths for each of 351 cities and towns in the Bay State. Worcester had 33 overdose deaths, and Boston had 64, the highest of any community.
In Rhode Island, state health officials have refused to release the precise counts for communities with five or fewer overdose deaths, citing federal privacy laws, known as HIPAA, which stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Rhode Island health officials have reported 239 accidental overdose deaths in 2014. Of those, more than 90 percent , or 215 deaths, involved opioids, said Dr. Traci C. Green, a research scientist at Rhode Island Hospital and assistant professor of emergency medicine and epidemiology at Brown University.
– With reports by the Associated Press
Document: Massachusetts data on overdose deaths by town