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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Shelley Moore Capito stated on January 22, 2019 in a tweet: \"Thanks to successful federal, state, and local efforts, preliminary statistics show opioid overdose deaths are down 8.5% in West Virginia.\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * West Virginia * Drugs * Public Health * Shelley Moore Capito ![\\"The](\\" The opioid oxycodone-acetaminophen. (AP) By Mylana Chico February 22, 2019 By Rebecca Jerome February 22, 2019 # Did opioid overdose deaths in West Virginia fall by 8.5%? Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., offered a note of optimism about her state’s struggle with opioid addiction in a Jan. 22 tweet. Capito tweeted, \"Thanks to successful federal, state, and local efforts, preliminary statistics show opioid overdose deaths are down 8.5% in West Virginia. Awesome news!\" > Thanks to successful federal, state, and local efforts, preliminary > statistics show opioid overdose deaths are down 8.5% in West Virginia. > Awesome news! > > — Shelley Moore Capito (@SenCapito) January 22, 2019 Is this statistic correct? Capito’s office did not respond to several inquiries, but we were able to find data that addresses the question. Her tweet links to a USA Today article about newly released data on opioids published the same day as the tweet. Accompanying that article is a link to a related article that summarizes the state-by-state data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the breakdown, West Virginia’s predicted 12-month number for overdose deaths from all drugs fell from 1,047 in 2017 to 958 in 2018. That’s a decrease of 8.5 percent, as Capito said. However, we should note a couple caveats. First, a different cut of the CDC data actually shows even stronger declines in West Virginia. Preliminary, 12-month statewide data for overdose deaths shows an 18.7 percent decline for reported deaths between July 2017 and July 2018, and a 32 percent decline for predicted deaths over the same period. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 16, 2024 in an Instagram post The World Health Organization ordered governments to prepare for “mega lockdown” because of an mpox strain. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • August 20, 2024 Second, the 8.5 percent decline refers to overdose deaths from all drugs, not \"opioid overdose deaths,\" as Capito said. The report doesn’t break down the data for opioid deaths by state. However, other data shows patterns for different drugs, and those serve to complicate Capito’s optimism. A CDC report detailing annual figures for 2016 and 2017 found that in West Virginia, there was a decrease in prescription opioid overdose deaths by almost 13 percent between those two years. However, during the same time period, the deaths from all opioids, including heroin and methadone, rose more than 14 percent, and the death rates from synthetic opioids other than methadone increased by more than 42 percent. In other words, a reduction in the deaths from prescription opioids masked how fast deaths from all opioids and synthetic opioids rose over that period. \"The opioid overdose epidemic continues to worsen and evolve because of the continuing increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids,\" the CDC reported, according to a Dec. 28, 2018 article in the Register Herald of Beckley, W.Va. Our ruling Capito tweeted, \"Thanks to successful federal, state, and local efforts, preliminary statistics show opioid overdose deaths are down 8.5% in West Virginia.\" This number appears in a USA Today article that summarized CDC data, and other CDC data shows even sharper declines. That’s the good news. However, Capito misidentified the figure as opioid overdose deaths specifically, rather than overdose deaths from all drugs. In addition, a more detailed analysis shows that while prescription opioid overdose deaths are down, overdose deaths from synthetic opioids are up. This suggests a more complicated outlook for the state’s overall overdose problem. We rate the statement Half True. Share the Facts 2019-02-22 01:00:51 UTC PolitiFact ![\\"PolitiFact\\"](\\" 4 1 7 ![\\"PolitiFact](\\" halftrue.jpg\\") PolitiFact Rating: Half True \"Thanks to successful federal, state, and local efforts, preliminary statistics show opioid overdose deaths are down 8.5% in West Virginia.\" Shelley Moore Capito U.S. Senator, R-W.Va. ![](\\" a tweet Tuesday, January 22, 2019 2019-01-22 Read More info #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Shelley Moore Capito, tweet, Jan. 22, 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, \"Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2013–2017,\" Jan. 4, 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, \"Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts,\" accessed Feb. 15, 2019 USA Today, \"Hope in the opioid crisis? Overdose deaths appear to be leveling off as states intensify efforts to save lives,\" Jan. 22, 2019 USA Today, \"Overdose deaths by state,\" Feb. 1, 2019 The Register Herald, \"CDC: West Virginia synthetic opioid deaths up, prescription opioid deaths down\", Dec. 28, 2018 West Virginia Public Broadcasting, \"CDC Data Documents Rise in Synthetic Opioid Overdose Deaths, Decline in Prescription\", Dec. 21, 2018 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Mylana Chico ![](\\" ![](\\" West Virginia Republican Party stated on April 5, 2019 in a tweet: \"West Virginia spends more tax dollars on public education than all but 13 other states and the District of Columbia.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Mylana Chico • May 10, 2019 ![](\\" ![](\\" Mike Romano stated on February 2, 2019 in a tweet: In the state rankings for ACT test scores, West Virginia \"is 30th. Which states are listed in the bottom? 15 states with charter schools.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Mylana Chico • April 4, 2019 ![](\\" ![](\\" Shelley Moore Capito stated on January 22, 2019 in a tweet: \"Thanks to successful federal, state, and local efforts, preliminary statistics show opioid overdose deaths are down 8.5% in West Virginia.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Mylana Chico • February 22, 2019 ![](\\" ![](\\" Shelley Moore Capito stated on January 3, 2019 in an op-ed: \"Our economy is growing at its fastest pace in nearly four years. Unemployment is at an all-time low.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Erica Anderson • February 4, 2019 ### Did opioid overdose deaths in West Virginia fall by 8.5%? * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 7, 2024 in a Threads post: Photo shows Elton John wearing a “MAGA” jacket. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 11, 2024 in a photo: The Minnesota Vikings have denounced Tim Walz: “We don’t suppᴏrt his values.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 8, 2024 in Instagram posts: Immigrants get $2,000 each time they cross the border illegally. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 30, 2024 in a Facebook post: Video shows tornadoes in Canada. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 8, 2024 in an Instagram post: Video shows a Ku Klux Klan member at a rally for former President Donald Trump. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 7, 2024 in a Threads post: Elon Musk said, “Anyone caught promoting propaganda will be suspended from X.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 9, 2024 in Instagram posts: A Haitian woman was arrested in Springfield, Ohio, for eating a cat. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 11, 2024 in una publicación en X: Kamala Harris “descubierta usando unos zarcillos con audífonos inhalambricos, para que le soplaran las respuestas durante el debate contra Donald Trump”. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Maria Briceño • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 6, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Elon Musk to fund new anti-woke show featuring Tucker Carlson.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 9, 2024 in a post: Video shows Tim Walz “falsely claims that being gay in Nebraska is ‘illegal’\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Grace Abels • September 11, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. 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Thanks to successful federal state and local efforts preliminary statistics show opioid overdose deaths are down 85 in West Virginia