VENTURA COUNTY — 1,651 deaths were reported to the Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office during calendar year 2019. Jurisdiction was accepted for 826 of these deaths, requiring further investigation and certification. Postmortem examinations were performed on 585 cases. Of the cases investigated, 149 deaths were due to medications, alcohol and or illicit drugs.
Of the 149 deaths, 128 were accidents, 17 were suicide and four deaths were undetermined. Of the overdose deaths, men accounted for 107 deaths (71.8%) and women accounted for 42 deaths (28.2%).
Multiple drugs or medications may be involved in one case; therefore, one should not add the numbers of individual substances. The same case may be represented multiple times by different drugs or drug categories. Deaths by city are based on the location of death which may not be the same location as where the overdose occurred.
Noteworthy trends:
- 1) Total overdose deaths between 2018 and 2019 decreased by 21. Compared to the previous year, accidental overdoses for 2019 decreased by 28 while suicidal overdoses increased by 4.
- 2) Except for overdoses involving ethanol, deaths from all drug types and categories decreased compared to 2018 (opioid, heroin, fentanyl, benzodiazepine, methamphetamine and cocaine).
- 3) The highest number of overdose deaths in 2019 were between ages 51 to 60 years (45 deaths)and the majority of these deaths involved methamphetamine (25 deaths).
149
128
General Drug Death Statistics 2019
64
85
Total OD Accidental OD single substance mixed substance
* In 2019, four overdose deaths were ruled undetermined (accident versus suicide)
Ventura County
Medical Examiner’s Office
300 Hillmont Avenue, Lot I Ventura, CA 93003-3099 Phone (805) 641-4400 FAX (805) 658-4598
Christopher R. Young, M.D.
Chief Medical Examiner
Othon J. Mena, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Examiner
180 160 140 120 100
80 60 40 20
0
165 170
149
156 142
128
General Drug Death Statistics: 2016-2019
116
105
2016
2017 2018 2019
11
23
13
17
Total OD Deaths
Accident OD Deaths
Suicide OD Deaths
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
0
77
Accidental Overdose by Drug 2019
61
33 33
17
20
8
2
opioid
heroin
fentanyl benzodiazepine ethanol methamphetamine cocaine
fentanyl analog
Drug type
Number of Deaths
Ventura County
Medical Examiner’s Office
300 Hillmont Avenue, Lot I Ventura, CA 93003-3099 Phone (805) 641-4400 FAX (805) 658-4598
Christopher R. Young, M.D.
Chief Medical Examiner
Othon J. Mena, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Examiner
120 100 80 60 40 20 0
Accidental Overdose by Drug: 2016-2019
92 96
77 78
55
61
20
37 40 35 34 40 50 33 33 31 33
17 18 16 20
22 8
20
12 7 9 8
2016 2017
2018 2019
2019 Drug Death By Age
81-90 71-80 61-70 51-60 41-50 31-40 25-30 18-24
1-17
1
5
8 1
21
27 22
19
45
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Number of Deaths
Death by Age (yrs)
Ventura County
Medical Examiner’s Office
300 Hillmont Avenue, Lot I Ventura, CA 93003-3099 Phone (805) 641-4400 FAX (805) 658-4598
Christopher R. Young, M.D.
Chief Medical Examiner
Othon J. Mena, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Examiner
2019 Death By Age: Benzodiazepine, Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, and Heroin
81 to 90 71 to 80 61 to 70 51 to 60 41 to 50 31 to 40 25 to 30 18 to 24
1 to 17
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Number of Deaths
Heroin Benzodiazepine Fentanyl Methamphetamine
50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10
5 0
45
38
2019 Fatal Overdose By Location of Death
18
14
13
5433
111111
Death by Age (yrs)
Ventura County
Medical Examiner’s Office
300 Hillmont Avenue, Lot I Ventura, CA 93003-3099 Phone (805) 641-4400 FAX (805) 658-4598
Christopher R. Young, M.D.
Chief Medical Examiner
Othon J. Mena, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Examiner
Ventura
Thousand Oaks
1
Accidental Fatal Overdose by City and Drug * Only cities with higher numbers of deaths included
9 7
8
8
10
26
Ethanol
Cocaine
Benzodiazepine
Fentanyl Analog
Methampheta mine
Opioid Fentanyl Heroin
20
12
3
4 4
3
5
2
2
4
5 3
2
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
12 2
3
5
3
2
16
Simi Valley
Santa Paula
Port Hueneme
Oxnard
12 1
1
6
5
20
23
12
3
Camarillo
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Ventura County
Medical Examiner’s Office
300 Hillmont Avenue, Lot I Ventura, CA 93003-3099 Phone (805) 641-4400 FAX (805) 658-4598
Christopher R. Young, M.D.
Chief Medical Examiner
Othon J. Mena, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Examiner
2019 Fatal Overdose by Month
14 13 13 12 12
10109 9 10 888
6
12 12 12
42222 322 01 11100
Accident Suicide
Accidental Deaths: Illicit vs. Prescription Drug Deaths
77
7
21
prescription combined illicit other
23
* Prescription drugs refers to medications commonly obtained through prescription; however, in some deaths, the prescription drugs may have been illicitly obtained.