Oakland County Reports 37 Percent Decrease in Drug Overdose Deaths

Pontiac, Mich. Sept. 17, 2025 - Oakland County Medical Examiner data show a 37 percent decrease in overdose deaths in 2024 compared to 2023. In addition, data from a national EMS database revealed a 13.3 percent decline in local EMS responses to non-fatal overdoses during the same period.

These promising trends reflect the impact of Oakland County's strategic and collaborative approach with community partners to save lives.

"Working to combat this epidemic is truly a collaborative effort," said Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. "Our Health & Human Services Department, alongside community partners such as Oakland Community Health Network, Alliance of Coalitions for Healthier Communities and various law enforcement agencies, provides vital services that are helping save lives."

Over the past two years, Oakland County has dedicated funding and resources to build a comprehensive approach to opioid use prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery. Key efforts include:

• Conducting seven opioid listening sessions with residents to guide opioid settlement spending
• Establishing the Oakland County Opioid Settlement Steering Committee to help distribute settlement funds
• Launching the Overdose Fatality Review Team to help prevent future drug-related deaths
• Creating the Health of Oakland County Dashboard with drug-related death data
• Dispersing more than 2,300 Narcan kits to harm reduction clients, resulting in 430 overdose Narcan rescues (January 2023 - June 2025)
• Providing 11,081 Narcan kits through vending machines and outreach events (January 2023 - June 2025)
• Delivering substance use prevention trainings to more than 900 residents in 2024

The county continues to expand prevention, harm reduction and treatment services, including free Narcan vending machines and "Save a Life" stations shown on an interactive map; a harm reduction clinic; prescription drug disposal sites through Operation Medicine Cabinet; school and community prevention programs; and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for inmates at the Oakland County jail.

"The decline in overdoses is not an accident. It reflects the collective efforts of essential on-the-ground initiatives like harm reduction and the overdose fatality review team, the collaboration of our safety net providers, the commitment of our community stakeholders and the vital role of Medicaid expansion, which has opened the door for more people to seek care," said Deputy County Executive Madiha Tariq, who oversees Oakland County Health and Human Services Department.

While the overall decline is encouraging, disparities remain. Black residents, who make up 13 percent of the county's population, continue to be disproportionately impacted by overdose deaths. In 2019, Black residents accounted for 16 percent of overdose deaths. This rose to 25 percent in both 2022 and 2023, before decreasing to 21 percent in 2024.

To ensure settlement funds address these disparities and community needs, the Opioid Settlement Steering Committee is seeking input through a new Request for Information (RFI) from local organizations, agencies and stakeholders. These funds provide an important opportunity to support community-driven, evidence-based strategies to reduce overdoses and their impact. More information about the RFI is at OakGov.com/OverdosePrevention.

For more details about opioids, harm reduction services and substance use prevention programs, visit OakGov.com/OverdosePrevention or contact Nurse on Call at 800-848-5533 or [email protected]. Nurse on Call is available 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For up-to-date public health information, follow @publichealthOC on Facebook, X and Instagram.

For media inquiries only, contact Bill Mullan, Oakland County public information officer, at 248-202-9668.