FOI reference: FOI-2026-3471
You asked
Please provide all recorded information held by the ONS relating to the following:
- Drug related death statistics
Total drug related deaths recorded in England and Wales during the period April 2022 to October 2024 Of those, any where Naloxone was administered prior to death Any recorded instances where Naloxone failed to reverse overdose during that period Any trend data showing rate of Naloxone efficacy failure during that period
- Naloxone outcome data
Any data held on second dose administration rates during that period Any adverse incident reports relating to Naloxone efficacy during that period Any data held on injection site infections or contamination linked to sterile water for injection during that period
Formats: Please include statistical records, adverse incident reports, pharmacovigilance data and internal communications as defined by FOIA s.84.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We hold mortality data that are collected through the death registration process in England and Wales. This enables us to publish regular statistics on deaths related to drug poisoning occurring in England and Wales.
Data on the number of deaths registered involving different substances for the years 2022 to 2024 can be found in our Deaths related to drug poisoning by selected substances, England and Wales dataset.
Naloxone is administered by medical staff to treat a drug overdose. Our drug poisoning death statistics by substance are derived from analysis of text that appears on the death certificate, which usually includes toxicology reports detailed in the coroners' observations. This text may sometimes mention whether naloxone was administered by medical staff. However, the ONS does not record when naloxone is mentioned in death certificates because it would not have contributed to the death. We therefore do not hold this information.
The Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (OHID) do publish a drugs early warning system dashboard that includes statistics on deaths linked to synthetic opioids or xylazine-like substances as well as ambulance call-outs where naloxone was administered. These data cover England only. For more information on these statistics from OHID, please contact them at dhsc.publicenquiries@dhsc.gov.uk.