In Crawford County, Fatal Overdoses Affecting Older Adults

The age of people fatally overdosing on opioids is increasing in Crawford County and a toxicology grant has been awarded to the coroner’s office to determine why.

The Crawford County Coroner’s Office announced that it has received a $10,000 grant through the Crawford County Opioid Settlement Funding Program to increase toxicology testing, particularly among older adults. 

Coroner Darren Dake said in a press release that the grant aims to address a gap in opioid education and prevention efforts, which traditionally focus on younger populations, by identifying potential opioid-related deaths in older age groups.

“In the past three years years, our office has seen an increase in the age of persons who have died from opioid overdose,” Dake said. 

In 2021, the average age was 38, increasing to 41 in 2022 and 51 in 2023. 

“We have reason to believe the age will continue to increase, Dake said.

This reflects a broader national trend, where overdose deaths among adults 65 and older have risen significantly over the past two decades.

According to Dake, drug overdose deaths for older adults were lower than other age groups, but have increased over the past two decades.

Deaths for adults aged 65 and over has increased from 2.4 to 8.8 deaths per 100,000 people.

The grant will allow the coroner's office to conduct toxicology testing on a wider scale, particularly in cases where opioid use is not immediately suspected, to determine if more older adults are dying from opioid overdoses than previously recorded. 

“These are cases where obvious drug-related items are on scene or circumstances of past activity by the deceased lead to an assumption of overdose,” Dake said.

Current testing is limited to cases with clear signs of drug use, leaving potential overdose deaths undetected.

If findings confirm a higher-than-expected rate of opioid deaths among older adults, it could lead to changes in opioid prevention and education efforts, expanding focus beyond young adults to include older populations at risk, Dake said.

The Opioid Fund Disbursement Board has awarded grants through two rounds of funding, with the deadline to submit an application for the next round on Nov. 19.

The five-member board is chaired by William Harlan, who is joined by vice chair Mike Lovell, secretary Denise Mueller, commission liaison Richard “Jax” Jensen and Dennis Roedemeier.

Crawford County has prioritized projects  that address the areas of transportation, child and family support services, housing, prevention education, re-entry service, support groups, law enforcement and first responders.

The Missouri legislature created the Opioid Addiction Treatment and Recovery Fund in 2020 to manage payments from the national opioid settlement. That settlement, finalized in 2021, came after states and local governments sued the nation’s three largest pharmaceutical distributors. As part of the agreement, the distributors will pay $21 billion over 18 years, while Johnson & Johnson will contribute an additional $5 billion over a maximum of nine years.

According to a 2023 report from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, 68% of local governments (99 out of 146) had not yet spent any of their opioid settlement funds that year. Many local officials spent the time planning how to budget, track, and allocate the incoming funds. In total, 93 counties, 50 cities, and three political subdivisions in Missouri are receiving settlement payments.