MILWAUKEE — Drug deaths in Milwaukee County have remained steady in April after a spike in fatal overdoses earlier this month, according to data from the Medical Examiner's (ME) office.
The Medical Examiner reported there were 41 probable drug deaths through April 16th. Seventeen of those overdose deaths came within the first four days of April, and the 18th death followed on April 6th.
There were 62 confirmed drug deaths for all of April 2022, according to the ME.
"It takes all of us to work together, because this is a huge problem, this is a huge epidemic, so we all have to continue to keep our feet on the ground, we have to continue to come out into the communities that are being most disproportionately underserved," said Tahira Malik, founder of Samad's House.
Malik's loss of family and friends to opioids — as well as her own battle with addiction — led her to create Samad's House, a recovery center in Milwaukee for women to beat addiction and regain custody of their children.
Malik said her work now includes outreach to train people with opioid addictions and others how to use fentanyl test strips and Narcan, which can be used to reverse an opioid overdose.
City leaders and health authorities held a press conference on April 4th after the 17 deaths, raising awareness for the use of test strips and Narcan. Malik said she's seeing a growing interest in both.
"No sooner that we left the press conference we received phone calls from individuals coming to pick up Narcan and fentanyl testing strips. And we had the opportunity to train them right here in this house. So I know that we can make a difference," said Malik.
On Monday, city Alderman Michael Murphy blamed the surge of overdose deaths, in part, on an "explosion of fentanyl."
He said money the city received from a federal opioid settlement should be "getting out into the street" within the next two months.
Murphy said the dollars will go toward additional fentantyl test strips and Narcan as well as treatment and housing for people recovering from addiction. Up to this point, he said, the city hasn't done enough.
"If you want to be objective about it, I mean, I try to be. If we were doing enough, you would see the numbers, I hope, reducing. In the past, we haven't had the resources," said Murphy.
Overdose deaths for the year appear to have climbed to nearly 200: 44 confirmed and another 152 probable pending results, according to the ME.
Those numbers put the county on pace to match or exceed drug deaths in previous years, including 644 in 2021 and 617 last year (there are still 56 probable drug deaths from 2022 pending toxicology).
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