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Medical examiner: fentanyl now fuels most opioid deaths in DeKalb; office seeks settlement funds for testing and staff
Summary
The county medical examiner told commissioners fentanyl accounted for most opioid deaths last year and outlined plans to start an overdose fatality review, expand toxicology testing and request roughly $300,000 in settlement or abatement funds for staffing, testing and a public dashboard.
The medical examiner’s office told DeKalb County commissioners that fentanyl is now the leading contributor to opioid deaths in the county and urged using settlement funds to expand toxicology capacity and staffing.
At a committee meeting the county’s medical examiner (presenting to the board) said about 2,300 cases were reported to the office last year and that toxicology cases represent a large share of the work. “We had a little over 200 toxicology‑related deaths last year,” the presenter said, adding that 114 deaths were opioid‑related and 107 of those were fentanyl‑specific in the most recent full year of data.
The presenter reviewed long‑term trends — prescription opioid waves in the 1990s, a spike in heroin in the 2010s and the current fentanyl wave, which frequently arrives mixed with stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine. The office staff described…
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