Fentanyl drug deaths rise by nearly a third in England and Wales

Fatalities linked to synthetic opioid increased by 29% in a year, according to ONS figures

Deaths caused by the drug fentanyl rose by nearly 30% last year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

While statistics show that the rate of deaths from drug poisoning in England and Wales has remained steady - 66.1 deaths per 1 million people (3,756 deaths) - fatalities involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl were up 29%. There were 75 deaths in 2017, up from 58 deaths in 2016.