San Francisco Reports Decline in Drug Overdose Deaths So Far This Year

Over the month of April, 56 people died of accidental overdose in San Francisco, according to the city’s Department of Public Health.

The figure marks a decline of 21% when compared to April of last year when 71 people died. This April also saw the fewest deaths in a single month since December.

“For some comparisons, in the first four months of last year, we had 275 accidental overdoses,” San Francisco’s Director of Health, Dr. Grant Colfax, said at a briefing to announce the latest figures. “And this year, we’ve had 258. As has been the trend since the city started tracking these data in 2020, more than 70% of overdose deaths in April were caused by fentanyl.”

Colfax and other public health officials also shared updates on a new pilot program meant to improve medication access for unhoused people seeking addiction treatment overnight.

As part of the new program, members of the Night Navigation Team make contact with unhoused people between 8 p.m. and midnight and set up telehealth consultations with on-call doctors.

Those doctors can then write prescriptions for things like buprenorphine — a pain medication that helps reduce withdrawal symptoms — to be picked up at a 24-hour pharmacy or the next day.

“Since 2020, DPH has been rapidly expanding our system to make drug treatment more accessible than ever and to serve more people in those treatment programs,” Colfax said. “We know from our outreach program that there is a demand for medications to treat fentanyl addiction at night.”

If rooms are available, residents who accept treatment are also provided with a place to stay while they start their recovery.

“Under this pilot, many of the individuals who have committed to starting medication for their fentanyl-use disorder have been sheltered at either the Adante Hotel or another available site in the community to start their medicine,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joanna Eveland said. “We have been using rooms that were previously reserved for quarantine emergencies but not currently needed for those, thankfully.”

Once placed in a room, Eveland said residents are connected with a case manager to begin planning for their exit after a week. Those residents also have access to various services, including transportation to pick up prescriptions and help to enroll in treatment programs or public insurance.

The pilot program began in March and recorded 173 telehealth consultations in that time, according to Eveland. Of those, 134 were prescribed buprenorphine and 33% of people picked up those medications.

“This is actually a high rate of people accepting the medication,” when compared to general prescription fill rates, Colfax said. “Remember, these are people on the street in the middle of the night.”

Eveland added that when unhoused residents were provided rooms to stay in, the prescription fill rate jumped to 78%.

“We have found that when we have combined the evening telehealth with safe and stable shelter where people can start their medication and receive support, they are three times more likely to enter recovery,” Eveland said.

Health officials did not share specifics regarding plans for the pilot program but emphasized they see potential in its continuation.

“Our hope is, as we go into analyzing the data further, that we’ll be able to expand the hours of the program so that we continue to focus on the populations most at risk,” Colfax said.