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Goodhue County medical examiner reports rise in suicides; falls and fentanyl-meth mixes remain concerns
Summary
The Goodhue County medical examiner told officials that suicides increased from prior years, falls among older residents are the largest accidental killer, and drug deaths—while lower than recent peaks—still show a troubling mix of fentanyl and methamphetamine. The office offered to work with public health on deeper case review.
Dr. Ross Reichert, representing the Goodhue County medical examiner’s office, presented the office’s annual death data and told county officials that suicides rose compared with previous years, while accidental falls and a varied mix of motor-vehicle and drug-related deaths continued to shape the county’s mortality profile.
Reichert said the office recorded roughly 439 deaths in the county, of which about 411 were reported to the medical examiner. He said the office completed approximately 48 full autopsies, performed seven external examinations and one limited examination, and otherwise used postmortem imaging or certificate certification in some hospice or terminal cases.
"The number of suicides did increase significant from previous, previous years in the county," Reichert said during the presentation, summarizing the change in suicide counts and offering cooperation with county public-health staff. He reported 14 suicides and said methods included 10 by firearm and three ligature hangings (one of which involved a transfer into Goodhue County); one intentional prescription overdose was also recorded.
Several attendees reacted to the suicide numbers. "That's probably the most alarming one to me," an attendee said, urging follow-up and pointing to mental-health drivers behind the trend. An attendee later asked whether the rise was statistically significant; Reichert said he did not know and that "it could just be a one-year bump," emphasizing that small absolute counts can make per-capita rates volatile.
On accidental deaths, Reichert said falls were the largest category, mainly among older adults falling from standing or seated positions rather than high falls. He highlighted the county’s aging population as a key factor and noted the serious downstream mortality risk after events such as hip fractures.
The presenter described a wide range of motor-vehicle incidents in the county—cars, tractors, ATVs, snowmobiles, electric scooters and pedestrian strikes—observing that local land use and activities influence the mix of crash types. He also reviewed drownings and clustered incidents in which multiple deaths occurred at a single scene.
On poisoning and drug overdoses, Reichert said illegal drug overdoses numbered seven and there was one prescription medication overdose that was intentional. He described detected substances as including two methamphetamine-only deaths, two fentanyl-only deaths, one fentanyl-with-heroin case and four cases with both fentanyl and methamphetamine, and said fentanyl and methamphetamine remain predominant though counts are lower than peaks seen a couple years earlier.
Operationally, Reichert summarized office activity as roughly 352 investigations, 97 signed death certificates, 92 scene responses and 56 postmortem examinations, and said the office’s workload remained stable year over year. He offered to provide case-level data and work with county public health for a deeper review to identify possible intervention points.
Next steps: the medical examiner’s office offered to collaborate with county public-health staff to examine cases for patterns and potential prevention measures; officials indicated interest in such follow-up. The presentation closed with appreciation for the office’s work and an offer to provide deeper analysis on request.
