BBC video follows family impact of US opioid crisis as deaths decline

A BBC report on the US opioid crisis follows Karen, a former heroin user who says the drugs crisis has affected her family. She was still using heroin when she became pregnant with her daughter, Abby, and has now been free from hard drugs for 17 years. She works in recovery and says today’s drugs are more dangerous. [3]

The BBC says synthetic opioids are more powerful and widely available, and have transformed the drugs landscape. Its video also says US overdose deaths have fallen since 2022, but the figures it gives do not align with the latest annual data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC’s final count recorded 107,941 overdose deaths in 2022. Its National Center for Health Statistics estimated 80,391 deaths in 2024 using provisional data, a 26.9% fall from its 2023 estimate of 110,037. [Sources 1–2] The BBC’s video describes the 2024 figure as about 70,000, but does not identify the reporting period or dataset behind that number.

A later CDC report, based on final mortality data, counted 79,384 overdose deaths in 2024. Of those, 54,045 involved opioids, down from 79,358 in 2023. [2] The figures show a substantial recent decline, while opioid-involved deaths remain a major part of the toll.