Tippecanoe County health officials are reporting a 24 percent reduction in opioid overdose deaths in 2023 compared with 2022.
The coroner's office and Tippecanoe County Health Department made a joint announcement last week highlighting the drop in opioid overdose deaths.
Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello said in 2021 the county saw 44 opioid overdose deaths. In 2022 they saw 37 deaths. In 2023 there were 28.
“I was listening to the Governor’s State of the State Address and he was excited about statewide, an almost 5% decrease in overdose deaths,” she said. “We’re looking at about five times that amount.”
The state reported a five percent decrease in overdose deaths for 2022 compared to 2021. Those numbers include all drugs - not just opioids.
Tippecanoe County Health Officer Greg Loomis said the drop is due to wraparound services being provided by the county.
“What I call a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment,” he said. “Not only the syringe service program we’ve had in place since 2018, we’ve also incorporated a lot of our community partners.”
Loomis also pointed to the county’s clothing bank, free medical clinic, and recovery services.
“I think all of these factors have really worked,” he said.
