Drug overdose deaths in Westmoreland County plummeted last year to their lowest level in more than a decade, according to a report from Coroner John Ackerman.
The data revealed 72 people died from drug overdoses in the county last year, continuing a four-year decline that officials said indicates education and preventive measures are yielding tangible results.
“Some of this is attributable to what we’ve been doing in prevention,” said Tim Philips, director of community relations and prevention for the Westmoreland County Department of Human Services. Those efforts include multiple programs to distribute fentanyl test strips and the overdose-reversal drug Narcan, alongside educational campaigns to promote rehabilitation and treatment services.
Drug overdoses in Westmoreland County reached an all-time high of 193 in 2017 during what officials described as an opioid abuse epidemic. After a brief decline, those numbers spiked again in 2021 with 168 reported deaths.
Fatal overdoses have now dipped in each of the last four years, and Ackerman said deaths are on track to decrease again in 2026. Through the first five months of this year, 18 fatal overdoses have been confirmed in the county, with another seven suspected cases awaiting toxicology results.
“It’s really a nationwide trend,” Ackerman said.
National trends
Overdose deaths continue to trend downward across the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported national fatal overdoses in 2025 were 14% lower than the prior year.
Westmoreland County saw an 11% decline in overdose deaths from 2024 to 2025. In neighboring Allegheny County, the health department reported overdose deaths last year dropped by 9.5%, falling from 432 in 2024 to 391.
“It’s trending down, and hopefully it continues to trend down,” Ackerman said.
Ackerman noted he was skeptical initially about the decreasing totals. He said the county, under former Coroner Tim Carson, conducted fewer autopsies in the previous four years, leaving officials to question whether the reduced number of confirmed fatal overdoses was simply the result of fewer investigations.
“We’re doing more autopsies now,” said Ackerman, who took office in January, noting overdose deaths still are trending downward despite the increased testing.
Shifting drug trends
The cause of fatal overdoses continues to shift.
Heroin, once the primary driver of local overdoses, has had far less impact in recent years. Allegheny County officials reported heroin was present in 33% of its overdoses, while the drug was not found in any of Westmoreland’s fatal overdoses last year, Ackerman said.
Allegheny County reported 59% of its 2025 overdoses were attributed to fentanyl. Ackerman said nearly half of the overdoses in Westmoreland County — 35 cases — were caused by a combination of multiple drugs that included fentanyl. Cocaine was the second-highest used drug found to contribute to overdoses in both counties.
An emerging threat is medetomidine, a veterinary sedative referred to on the streets as “rhino tranq,” according to the coroner’s report. Experts said the drug causes serious and potentially life-threatening withdrawal symptoms.
Medetomidine was reported as a contributing factor in 13 fatalities in Westmoreland County.
“We’re seeing this more and more across the country. With new, synthetic drugs, it could propel more fatal overdoses,” said Liz Comer, executive director of the Westmoreland County Drug and Alcohol Commission.
Still, Comer said she remains encouraged that harm reduction programs have helped suppress the numbers.
“I truly think it’s our collective effort — everyone working together to educate the public, helping distribute test strips, and the fact that now you can find Narcan everywhere,” Comer said. “The influx of these harm reduction efforts has made a huge change.”