HENNEPIN COUNTY, Minn. — The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office took on a record-breaking number of drug and alcohol-related deaths this year.
The majority of those deaths were caused by opioids.
“Like all medical examiners and coroner's across the country, we've seen our drug fatality rates skyrocket,” said Dr. Andrew Baker, the chief medical examiner for Hennepin County.
Baker suspects that once 2022 numbers become public, the office will count about 500 drug and alcohol fatality cases of their 1,500 yearly autopsies.
Of the reportable numbers which include the months of January to October, there have been 325 opioid-related deaths. Most drug-related deaths the office handles are from fentanyl.
The Medical Examiner’s Office has seen its caseload rise throughout the years, both drug-related and otherwise.
However, Baker said that overdoses are outpacing other types of death.
“The other thing we've had to do is just continually add staff because virtually every one of those fatalities requires an autopsy,” said Baker.
Baker said the office has luckily been able to keep pace with the growing numbers and attract more workers because of support from the county and a new facility.
But nationally, many offices are understaffed.
“We don't have enough medical students going into pathology,” he said. “It’s a zero-sum game. if I need to recruit another medical examiner, I'm not getting that person from a medical school, I'm stealing them from another medical examiner's office.”
An additional challenge is how quickly new drugs emerge on the market.
“You're always hoping that your lab is going to be able to keep up with the new stuff that's hitting the street,” said Baker. “So much more complex than it used to.”
“Now that COVID seems like it's a little bit in the rearview mirror, we've got to deal with this other problem that we have,” said Baker.
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