Exclusive: Drug overdoses leading cause of accidental death in Travis County for third year

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- For the third year in a row, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in Travis County. That will be revealed by the Medical Examiner Thursday afternoon with the release of the 2023 Medical Examiner Report.

KXAN exclusively received an advanced copy.

The report shows that in 2023, 486 people died of overdoses in Travis County. That's up from 417 people the year prior. Looking specifically at fentanyl-related deaths, there were 279 in the most recent report compared to 245 in 2022.

"The report is always a kind of grim measure of how bad the overdose crisis is in Travis County," County Judge Andy Brown said.

While the numbers are an increase from 2022 to 2023, the percentage in which they climbed is less dramatic than it was from 2021 to 2022. In 2021, there were 118 fentanyl-related deaths.

Brown contributed that to things like more access to naloxone -- an overdose reversal medication -- and more emphasis from the county on recovery housing.

Brown also said the county signed on with a group that will help it collect data on non-fatal overdoses just a couple weeks ago. That company will use EMS, Medical Examiner and self reported data to give the county a more clear picture of the problem.

"I think once we get that data up and running we will see the ratio between overdoses that did not result in death and deaths from overdose. And I think that will really inform our public health work, whether it's working or not," Brown said.

Families of victims asking for more resources

We brought the numbers both to Carilu Bell and Stefanie Turner, both of whom have lost sons to fentanyl and are now part of a group called Texas Against Fentanyl.

"It's sad. It's heartbreaking. Something should have been done a long time ago," responded Bell, who lost her son, Casey, to fentanyl almost three years ago. We also talked to Bell when the grim fentanyl-related death data was released last year.

"This is the greatest threat on our nation, yet it's just not understood, it's not talked about. We need to magnify this message, magnify this voice and move faster. We need to have a COVID-like response," Turner, the president of Texas Against Fentanyl, said.

That's where the county is, once again, calling on state partners to help -- by putting funding into education and resources and legalizing fentanyl test strips, which can help someone detect the fatal drug.

"The sad thing is that we could do different things to prevent those deaths that we're not doing at the state level and we clearly need to do more at the local level, too, to address what is the number one of cause of accidental death in Travis County again in 2023," Brown said.

In the meantime, the families of victims of fentanyl poisoning are asking that people in Travis County take a real hard look at these numbers, and start educating themselves on how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

"Talk about it. Don't shy away from it because it could be you that is impacted like this," Bell said.

Texas Against Fentanyl is hosting a "substance abuse and mental health" town hall Tuesday, May 28 from 10 am-noon. You can find more information about the event or learn more about the group here.