TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 26, 2025

Fatal drug overdoses are declining in Tennessee and nationwide after years of rising deaths, offering a potential turning point in the opioid crisis. According to the Axios, Tennessee’s overdose death rate fell 6.6% from 56 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 52.3 per 100,000 in 2023, while the national rate dropped 4%. Tennessee has invested tens of millions of dollars from opioid lawsuit settlements into overdose prevention efforts, including expanding access to naloxone, a medication that can reverse  overdoses. Since 2017, overdose prevention specialists have distributed more than 678,000 units of naloxone, documenting over 82,000 lives saved, according to the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Despite the decline, the state’s overdose death rate remains significantly higher than the national average, with more than 3,800 reported deaths in 2023.