A record number of high school teens died of drug overdoses in 2022 in an alarming trend driven primarily by fentanyl poisonings from counterfeit pills, according to a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Boston researchers found that an average of 22 adolescents ages 14 to 18 years old died each week in the U.S. from drug overdoses in 2022.
The death rate for drug overdoses among teens is more than double what it was in 2018, according to the study, which is entitled “The Overdose Crisis Among U.S. Adolescents.”
Madison Gerchow started the X Foundation in honor of her only brother, Xavier.
The foundation aims to remove the stigma surrounding fentanyl poisoning by raising awareness and providing education about the epidemic.
“I wish we had educated Xavier or ourselves and friends,” Gerchow said.
“If Narcan was in our home, this could have been a very different reality.”
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Bryan Llenas currently serves as a National Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in New York. In this capacity, Llenas covers national breaking news. He joined FOX News in 2010 as a reporter for FOXNewsLatino.com and transitioned to his role as FNC correspondent in 2013.
