Rising Drug Overdose Deaths in South Carolina

The South Carolina Department of Health has released data on prescription drug overdose deaths, and the numbers are grim.  In 2020, in one South Carolina county, drug overdose deaths took the lives of 88 per 100,000 people. Overall in South Carolina, there were over 1,400 prescription drug overdoses in 2020. And over 1700 total drug overdose deaths in the state.  When someone dies, if a drug is in their system, it's included as a death related to that particular drug.  This means numbers can overlap in relation to prescription drugs, opioid, heroin and fentanyl deaths. There has been a multi-year trend of increased overdoses in South Carolina. Overall, in 2020, 29.4 out of every 100,000 people died of prescription overdoses. In the top 10 counties in South Carolina with the fewest deaths, Edgefield, Saluda and Barnwell all made the list. But as for the most? Aiken county ranked at number 10. Laurens, Greenwood and Horry counties were also in the top 10 with the most prescription overdose deaths.  The county with the most deaths related to overdoses is Jasper, with a rate of 88.6 per 100,000 people. Source: WBTW News 13   [select-listicle listicle_id="250121" syndication_name="11-biggest-companies-to-work-for-in-aiken-sc"]