Wisconsin had 1,427 opioid overdose deaths last year, 16% higher than previous record
DAVID WAHLBERG
Updated
A kit containing naloxone, or Narcan, the opioid overdose-reversal drug, is available at UW-Madison's Gordon Dining Hall, beside an automated external defibrillator to help people with sudden cardiac arrest. The university installed the naloxone kits in dorms and dining halls in October as part of a statewide effort to curb fatal opioid overdoses.
Wisconsin had 1,427 opioid overdose deaths last year, 16.3% more than the previous record in 2020 and more than double the toll from just six and seven years earlier, with fentanyl fueling much of the increase, officials say.
Liliana "Lily" Kolb died at the age of 20 from an overdose involving fentanyl on April 1, 2021, just before she was to start treatment. Her mother, Lorre Kolb, recalls her daughter's struggles with addiction.
Cade Reddington, 18, a UW-Milwaukee student and graduate of Waunakee High School, died in November 2021 from an overdose involving fentanyl. “It’s a public health crisis, and people are not talking about it," said his mother, Michelle Kullmann, of Waunakee.
Cade Reddington, 18, a UW-Milwaukee student and graduate of Waunakee High School, died in November 2021 from an overdose involving fentanyl. “It’s a public health crisis, and people are not talking about it," said his mother, Michelle Kullmann, of Waunakee.
A kit containing naloxone, or Narcan, the opioid overdose-reversal drug, is available at UW-Madison's Gordon Dining Hall, beside an automated external defibrillator to help people with sudden cardiac arrest. The university installed the naloxone kits in dorms and dining halls in October as part of a statewide effort to curb fatal opioid overdoses.
