An analysis by The Washington Post shows that across the country fentanyl has fueled a more than doubling of overdose deaths for children and teens since the start of the pandemic. The analysis, which is based on CDC data, shows that fatal overdoses in the DMV are keeping up with the national increase in opioid fatalities for this age group.
The George Washington University has experts available to comment on this deadly trend. To interview an expert please contact Kathy Fackelmann, kfackelmann
gwu [dot] edu (kfackelmann[at]gwu[dot]edu) or Katelyn Deckelbaum, katelyn [dot] deckelbaumgwu [dot] edu (katelyn[dot]deckelbaum[at]gwu[dot]edu).
Monica Ruiz is an associate professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. She has done research on needle exchange programs and is an expert on harm reduction methods.
Jillian Catalanotti is an assistant professor of medicine and general internal medicine division director at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Cynthia Awadzi is a clinical assistant professor at the GW School of Nursing. Her research interests include the integration of medical and psychiatric health in underserved populations. Watch here as she discusses the state of the opioid crisis in the U.S.