The Bucks County Coroner’s Office investigated 173 accidental drug overdose deaths in Bucks County in 2022. The number of drug overdose fatalities decreased slightly from 2021, when 178 persons succumbed to drug toxicity.
As in recent years, fentanyl continued to be the most common drug found on toxicological tests during medicolegal death investigations. As in previous years, most decedents were male (70.5%) and white (82.7%). The age range was 18-69 years, with an average age of 43. Approximately one-third of the drug deaths were in those aged 35-44 years.
Toxicological testing continued to confirm the synthetic opioid fentanyl as the most common drug in fatal overdoses. Fentanyl was found alone or in combination with other drugs in a total of 137 (79.2%) cases. The next most common drugs were methamphetamine (27.7%), xylazine (25.4%) and cocaine (17.9%). More than 75 percent of drug deaths involved a combination of drugs rather than a single substance.
Four persons died due to acute alcohol intoxication with no other substances involved. Uncommon single-drug deaths in 2022 included one death attributed to mitragynine (also known as kratom) and two deaths attributed to bromazolam, an unapproved benzodiazepine new to this area.
Bucks County townships with more than 10 drug overdose deaths were Bristol (51), Bensalem (23), Falls (18) and Middletown (15).
“Drug deaths, particularly opioid-related deaths, continue to plague the greater Philadelphia area, including Bucks County,” said Coroner Meredith Buck. “My office diligently investigates each suspected drug death according to the highest national standards. We performed autopsies in 84 percent of drug deaths in 2022 to ensure an accurate cause and manner of death. A grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health helps offset the cost of our toxicological testing. We share de-identified drug death data with other agencies, including the DEA. It is my hope that the information we provide will inform prevention efforts as we continue to battle the opioid epidemic.”
