Fatal Heroin Overdoses Dramatically On The Rise In New York City

Recent findings have revealed that heroin overdoses have claimed the lives of 420 people in New York within the last year, alone.

Based on an extensive data analysis, the number of heroin overdose deaths is predicted to be the highest it's ever been since 2013. Furthermore, the contraband was the single largest killer of all overdose deaths recorded in the previous year.

"It was almost exclusively Central Brooklyn, South Bronx, East Harlem and overlapped with New York City's highest-need neighborhoods," said chief medical officer at the Phoenix House Foundation Dr. Andrew Kolodny, via the New York Times. "The rest of the city - Staten Island, Queens, most of Manhattan - close to nothing."

Fifty-four percent of the 782 drug overdose deaths reported last year were related to Heroin use, according to Reuters. Findings also revealed that the total number of overdose deaths have increased by 41 percent since 2010.

"Over the last two years, the Health Department educated both health care providers and residents on the risks of these highly addictive drugs, and worked with community groups, syringe access programs, and first responders to increase overdose reversals with naloxone," added Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett, via the New York Times. 

However, heroin is not the only drug that's seen a dramatic increase. Many prescription opioid painkillers are also being used more frequently, resulting in overdoses with potentially fatal consequences.