EMS responses to nonfatal opioid overdoses fell as U.S. overdose deaths declined

Annual U.S. drug-overdose deaths fell from around 111,000 at a mid-2023 peak to under 71,000 by the end of 2025, Science News reports. In the studied EMS data, nonfatal opioid overdose responses and naloxone administrations both fell below expected levels from May 2023 onward. The pattern suggests fewer overdoses rather than more rescues, but the study missed bystander naloxone use when nobody called 911 and cannot establish what drove the decline.