February 8th, 2025 by WCBC Radio

West Virginia’s Department of Human Services says it is seeing progress in reducing overdose deaths across the state. The latest data shows a decrease of 38% in the first seven months of 2024 compared to the same period a year before. Some cases are still pending, but the reduction is not expected to fall below 31%. Year over year figures for the 12 months ending in August 2024 show a 27.9% decline in overdose deaths in West Virginia, surpassing the national average of 21.7%