In early August 2018, Cuyahoga County, Ohio saw 14 people die from drug overdoses in a span of five days. Between August 2nd and August 6th the youngest person to overdose was 21 years old, the oldest one was 72 years old. Out of the 14 people 50% of them were 60 or older. Considering that the largest population of overdose victims typically ranges from 45-55 years old and that overdose deaths in Cuyahoga county in 2018 are projected to reach 727 deaths, this large amount of deaths in a short period of time is concerning to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office.
"This is a concerning trend. The county is working with our local and federal partners to analyze it and identify its source," said Dr. Thomas Gilson, Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner.
The FDA recently voted in favor of pushing a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride for approval. The new OxyContin formula is more difficult to crush or dissolve which will hopefully make it harder to be used as a drug of abuse . The FDA recommended that Purdue Pharma's application for a new, resin-coated formulation should replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996. Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug said, "Clearly the old formulation is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small," Flick concluded, "Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within 'day or weeks' of the product's release on the market."