SPOKANE, Wash. — The claim has popped up all over online, including in this newsletter from Eastern Washington Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, which claims fentanyl is now the leading killer of American adults aged, 18-45.
Other politicians that have made the claim include House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott.
Several viewers reached out to the VERIFY team to confirm if the claim is true.
THE QUESTION
Is fentanyl the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
The claim that fentanyl is the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45 needs context, at least nationally.
According to 2021 mortality data from the CDC, the leading cause of death for all American adults was unintentional deaths, which includes accidental drug overdoses due to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
The non-profit, ‘Families Against Fentanyl’ analyzed 2020 CDC data and reported that fentanyl is the leading cause of death for all Americans.
When our VERIFY team analyzed the 2020 data, we found unintentional injuries accounted for slightly more than 78,000 deaths, with drug overdoses accounting for nearly 50,000 deaths. Of those, 35,000 drug overdoses can be attributed to the use of synthetic narcotics, which includes fentanyl.
But, here’s where it gets tricky. The CDC doesn’t track fentanyl deaths specifically, it only categorizes them under synthetic opioids, which could include other drugs too.
However, when it comes to Washington and Idaho, we got a more clear answer.
In Washington, the Chief Science Officer for the State Department of Health confirmed fentanyl is the leading cause of death among adults. Fentanyl accounted for 765 overdose deaths in 2021, more than car crashes and suicides.
It's a similar story in Idaho, where Corporal Seth Green with Idaho State Police said in the Gem State, Fentanyl has overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of death.
"We saw 353 overdoses, the majority of which were fentanyl last year, and only 265 fatal crashes," Corporal Green said. "Crashes used to be the leading cause of death, now it’s obviously overdoses."
There is no simple solution to the issue, but the experts we spoke with say parents need to talk to their kids about the dangers of fentanyl. They also say we need increased access to life-saving treatment programs and naloxone or Narcan that can reverse the symptoms of an opioid overdose.
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