'Worst year,' 'terrifying trend': Opioid, heroin deaths in '17 ravage Central Pa. counties

York County could see nearly a 90 percent increase year-over-year of heroin-related deaths. 

There were 76 in 2016. In 2017, Coroner Pam Gay said, there have been 115 confirmed heroin and fentanyl deaths, with another 28 suspected. 

"Worst year ever," Gay agreed. 

Neighboring Lancaster County saw a 40 percent increase in drug overdose deaths in 2017 compared to the year before.

“There’s an exponential increase in deaths,” Lancaster Coroner Stephen Diamantoni told LancasterOnline, “and, frankly, it’s a terrifying trend.”

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On a statewide level, there was a 100 percent increase in drug deaths caused by fentanyl in 2016 from 2015, according to Patricia Allen, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and executive director of medical services at Summit Behavioral Health. Fentanyl — an opioid that can be 50 time stronger than heroin — is being found in more and more heroin deaths.

That's a major concern. She's had people come into her treatment facility who offer surprised looks on their faces when tests show that they have fentanyl in their systems.

And it's not just being laced in heroin, she says. It shows up in cocaine, too. 

"I think fentanyl is really pushing our death rate up," Allen said.

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In Franklin County, there were 35 confirmed drug overdose deaths, a decrease from 40 in 2016 but still up from previous years.

Adams County had 16 confirmed overdoses, of which six were heroin-related and 11 were caused by fentanyl, according to Coroner Pat Felix. There were two more drug deaths the coroner did not yet have reports for.

Data from Dauphin and Perry counties was not available. 

While bigger cities in Pennsylvania like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh receive a lot of attention about the opioid epidemic, the state's rural and suburban towns are being hit hard too, said Allen.

It's tough for Allen to see how access to drugs such as heroin and fentanyl can happen in those rural towns, but, she knows, addiction is affecting everybody.

Plus, law enforcement and experts say that drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil are being ordered online and shipped to people's homes.

More:He was a heroin addict. He thought he couldn't change. He did.

The website OverdoseFreePA keeps track of drug deaths across the state, and offers informative breakdowns of those deaths.

It shows, for example, that in Allegheny County, that of 591 drug deaths in 2017, fentanyl showed up in 75 percent of the cases.

Not every county in the state reports data.