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The South Carolina Department of Public Health (SCDPH) – joined by the S.C. Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities’ Office of Substance Use Services (OSUS) – announced this week that overdose deaths in the Palmetto State declined in 2024 based on new provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Previously, this outlet reported that total drug overdose deaths in the Palmetto State soared by more than 25 percent from 2020 to 2021 – climbing from 1,734 to 2,168, according to state data. Over the course of the decade ending in 2021, overdose deaths surged by more than 278 percent– from 573 in 2012 to 2,168 in 2021.
According to the latest provisional data release, the CDC’s National Vital Statistics Systems (NVSS) predicted 1,475 overdose deaths in South Carolina in 2024 – marking a 33 percent statewide decline from the previous year. Nationally, CDC estimated there were 80,391 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. last year – a national decrease of nearly 27 percent from the 110,037 deaths estimated in 2023.
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SCDPH recently reported the Palmetto State’s first decline in overdose deaths – with the 2023 data representing a 6.1 percent decrease from the 2,296 drug overdose deaths reported in 2022.
“Partners across our state have worked tirelessly to prevent overdoses and tackle substance misuse in the face of the opioid overdose epidemic,” said interim agency director Dr. Edward Simmer. “The data is starting to show the impact of these programs and efforts. While we welcome the success these efforts have made in reducing the number of overdose deaths in our state, we also recognize that one overdose death is too many, and there is still much more progress to be made.”
In South Carolina (and across the nation), fentanyl continues to be largely responsible for a vast number of overdose deaths. The drug was involved in 1,550 of the state’s 2,157 overdose deaths in 2023. Furthermore, previous drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl increased by more than 35 percent in the Palmetto State from 2020 to 2021 – climbing from 1,100 to 1,494 deaths.
“Reducing the number of overdose deaths in South Carolina reflects a collaborative and cohesive approach,” said OSUS interim director Sara Goldsby. “OSUS, DPH, and many partners across the state have been working hand in hand to increase access to the opioid-antidote medication naloxone, which has been instrumental in providing a second chance to South Carolinians who experience an opioid overdose.”
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In efforts to increase access to harm reduction supplies, SCDPH noted that expanding linkage to care through warm handoff programs and peer recovery services in clinical settings have been a critical tool in South Carolina’s efforts to lower the number of overdose deaths in the state.
DPH also offers Opioid Overdose (OD) Safety Kits at health departments across the state, containing two doses of naloxone, five fentanyl test strips, five xylazine test strips, educational materials on how to use everything included and guidance for how to identify an opioid overdose – which are available in English and Spanish.
In the provided safety kits, naloxone is a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, the fentanyl test strips are small strips of paper that can detect the presence of fentanyl in different types of drugs and the xylazine test strips can detect the presence of xylazine – which is a harmful sedative that can create painful wounds on the body and can also cause death.
SCDPH encouraged the public to call its local health department to check the availability of Opioid OD Safety Kits before pick up – as fentanyl and xylazine are sometimes added to the drug supply without the user’s knowledge as a means to increase drug volume, profitability and potency – making the drug more dangerous to potential users.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2025 with a bachelor degree in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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