National data is incomplete, but available information suggests U.S. drug overdose deaths are on track to reach an all-time high. At the end of August, the state had seen almost as many overdose deaths as it had in all of 2019. National data is incomplete, but available information suggests U.S. drug overdose deaths are on track to reach an all-time high. Before the coronavirus even arrived, the U.S. was in the midst of the deadliest drug overdose epidemic in its history, with a record 71,000 overdose deaths last year. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the rise of U.S. overdose deaths was driven by abuse of prescription opioid painkillers.