DEATHS FROM XYLAZINE WENT UP IN 2023

Westmoreland County’s Coroner reports that while the number of accidental drug overdose deaths is dropping, there is an increase in the number of deaths due to a veterinary sedative that cannot be counteracted by anti-opioid medications. The Trib reports that the number of deaths due to an overdose of xylazine went up from 31 to 44, making it the second largest fatal overdose factor in 2023, according to coroner Tim Carson’s annual report. There were 95 accidental overdoses in 2023, down from the 118 overdoses in 2022, which is continuing a downward trend.