Fentanyl deaths overwhelm US morgues

America’s fentanyl epidemic has gotten so bad that some morgues are running out of room. From 6,000 synthetic opioid deaths in 2015, to a major jump to more than 63,0000 in 2021, fentanyl is the biggest factor.

Coroner’s offices across the country say it’s tough to keep up with the bodies piling up. The Marion County Coroner’s Office in Indianapolis blames drug overdoses in part for their crowded morgue.

At the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office in Chicago, more room and resources were needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, COVID-19 deaths have dropped, but the morgues still need that extra space because of all the people fentanyl is killing.

“The most common non-natural death is opioids, it’s more than our number of homicides, more than our number of traffic accidents,” said Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar.

Opioid related deaths in Cook County have nearly tripled from 675 in 2015, to nearly 2,000 last year. – READ MORE