More States following AZ’s Lead to Establish Overdose Fatality Review Teams
Overdose fatality reviews allow states to better understand the circumstances surrounding fatal drug overdoses so they can design better interventions. Review teams can uncover the individual and population factors and characteristics of potential overdose victims. Knowing the who, what, when, where, and how of fatal overdoses provides a better sense of the strategies and coordination needed to prevent future overdoses and results in the better allocation of overdose prevention resources and services.
Nine states including AZ have set up teams so far. The Network for Public Health Law provides a good overview of the states that have review teams. Here are some of the laws [OK (HB 2798), RI (S 2577 and H 7697), and VA (SB 399)], DE (HB 211) and our own (HB 2038). The laws establishing fatal overdose reviews often include the entity authorized to create and manage the review team or committee, the membership requirements for teams or committees, the scope of work of the teams or committees, confidentiality and liability protections, and data access authorizations.
