US overdose deaths may be peaking, but experts are wary

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — New government data suggests U.S. overdose deaths have stopped rising, but many experts are urging caution. They note that past plateaus didn’t last. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released provisional data on what happened through the first six months of this year. The news appears to be hopeful. Provisional data indicates U.S. overdose deaths fell three months in a row. But the decline is uneven. Only eight states reported fewer overdose deaths, while all the others showed continued increases. And only four states — Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — reported sizable overdose death decreases of 100 or more.