The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) monitors and reports data on drug overdose deaths. Data can be used to inform drug overdose prevention programs or policies.
Data are from death certificates. Learn more about the definition of a drug overdose death. Data on this dashboard are Virginians only. These deaths include Virginians who died in Virginia or out of state. Virginia city or county on the map is based on where the person lived at time of death. Learn more about death certificate data at the National Center for Health Statistics website.
Death data for the most recent year are not final and may change. Data that are not final are noted with an asterisk (*).
Dashboard Navigation
Use the 'Select Year' and 'Select specific drug or drug classes' controls to filter changes in the map. Hover over the map to view the yearly trend.
Drug Overdose Death Rate
State Death Rates by Drug Class
Death Rate Table by Drug Class
Death investigations need weeks or months to complete. This is because drug testing is needed to classify a death as a drug overdose. Toxicology testing takes time. Deaths may first be assigned as “pending” on the death certificate while an investigation is happening. The status is updated when the investigation is complete. Data may also be delayed while waiting for finalized data from out-of-state records and/or National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) edits.
Data by drug class are not mutually exclusive. This means that a death can involve more than one drug. For example, a death that includes an opioid and cocaine would be counted in both categories.
Final death data for the prior year are finalized in the fall of the current year. Data on the dashboard are updated by December each year.
Rates are the number of drug overdose deaths per 100,000 population.
Data are provided from sources believed to be reliable and accurate at that point in time. Please see Virginia Code §32.1 for more information. VDH tracks drug overdose deaths in two ways using death certificate data and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner data. These two data sources define a drug overdose death in different ways.
VDH has different overdose death definitions based on if the person is a Virginia resident, if the death occurred in Virginia, and how the type of drug is defined. The death certificate drug overdose death definition:
- Uses ICD-10 medical coding for underlying cause of death.
- Includes only Virginia residents. These deaths include Virginians who died in and out of state.
- Cannot report on fentanyl-only deaths. Fentanyl deaths are reported under the “fentanyl and other synthetic opioids” drug class. Fentanyl deaths are in the ICD-10 code of T40.4 (synthetic opioids, excluding methadone). Fentanyl is a synthetic (man-made) opioid and is grouped i in the same drug class with tramadol and other synthetic opioids.
- Does not include alcohol only or gas/vapor only poisonings. Those are defined as nondrug poisonings.
- Reports by the Virginia city or county where the person lived at the time of their death.
The OCME drug overdose death definition:
- Uses an internal coding system for investigation. OCME does not use ICD-10 codes.
- Includes only deaths that occur in Virginia. These deaths include in-state and out-of-state residents.
- Can identify the individual drug or drugs involved in an overdose.
- Include alcohol only and gas/vapor only poisonings.
- Reports by the Virginia city or county where the person died.
For additional information about drug overdose and substance use, email overdose@vdh.virginia.gov.