Medical Examiner: Overdose Cases Up By 75 Percent

DeLand, FL - The Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office says they have seen a dramatic jump in overdose cases during a presentation about the office’s performance in 2020. Volusia County Medical Examiner Dr. James Fulcher told the county council during their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday (September 7) that his office saw a 75 percent increase in overdose cases. Dr. Fulcher said these cases came as the COVID-19 pandemic began. "These numbers are astronomical," said Dr. Fulcher. "It’s terrifying." Dr. Fulcher added that 85 percent of those cases were also linked to fentanyl. The number of overdose cases also outpaced the number of motor vehicle accident deaths handled by the medical examiner’s office. In his presentation to the council, Dr. Fulcher additionally correlated the jump in overdose cases to the sudden lockdowns that came with the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020. According to Dr. Fulcher, the imposed isolation from the pandemic was detrimental to that population as a lot of them could not rely on virtual help. "(For) a lot of these people, doing something virtually doesn’t work," said Dr. Fulcher. "And I think that’s largely what this represents. The isolation was hard" A graph offered by Dr. Fulcher shows overdose cases increasing around the same time COVID-19 cases began to increase in 2020. Despite the jump in overdose cases and COVID-19 cases, Dr. Fulcher told the council that his office’s turnaround time was still exceptional in 2020—22.6 days. Dr. Fulcher also expanded on how his office has handled an influx of COVID-19 cases. According to Fulcher, COVID-19 deaths originally fell under the jurisdiction of Florida’s medical examiner offices until last August when certain offices were "breaking." At that point jurisdiction over COVID-19 cases was removed by the State Medical Examiner Commission. Just prior to Dr. Fulcher’s presentation, the Volusia County Council proclaimed September 2021 as Opioid and Stimulant Use Disorder Awareness Month. According to council members, this proclamation, sponsored by At-Large Representative Ben Johnson, will raise awareness for opioid abuse and overdoses. A contract amendment to Dr. Fulcher’s contract—which was part of a separate agenda item—was also approved unanimously by the council following his presentation.