ABOUT THIS REPORTING
For years, Nebraska has maintained one of the lowest drug overdose death rates in the U.S.
It’s a point of pride among state leaders, who have cited the numbers when debating — and often defeating — drug policy proposals, including a proposed needle exchange program in 2024.
Just one problem: Nebraska’s lowest-in-the-nation drug death rate is likely false.
The state has long undercounted drug deaths, say state officials, public health researchers, treatment workers and a new Flatwater Free Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control data showing that Nebraska’s nonfatal overdose rate and its death rate simply don’t match up.
We don’t know the real number of Nebraskans dying from drugs. It’s costing us.
Every year, Nebraska undercounts overdoses, say state officials, public health experts, on-the-ground treatment workers and a new Flatwater Free Press analysis. Laws and money are impacted. And lives hang in the balance.
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Nebraska state agency awards millions to out-of-state nonprofit formerly run by agency’s CEO
When asked if Steve Corsi’s prior role had been disclosed to any oversight body or the advisory committee, a DHHS spokesperson said that DHHS has complied with all legal requirements and that Corsi has provided required accountability and disclosure statements in accordance with law.
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Dying Blind: Those who have lost loved ones to overdoses say shame is abundant, info scarce
After the death of her son, Regina Sullivan started to become her own investigator and advocate and started peer support training to become the resource that she didn’t have.
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We know drugs killed this Nebraskan’s brother and many others. But we don’t know which drugs. It’s costing us.
John Anderson awoke in Oakland, California, to the sound of his youngest brother Aidan pounding on his door. Aidan had spent hours taking trains across the state to…
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Detox Desert: Spending cuts, overdose undercounting leave rural Nebraska with few answers
The state has long undercounted drug deaths, state officials and experts say. By failing to acknowledge the size of the problem, we’re failing to address it, sending few resources to more rural Nebraska counties to help combat substance abuse.
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QUICK HIT: Dying Blind
We don’t know the real number of Nebraskans dying from drugs. It’s costing us.
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How we reported ‘Dying Blind’
This project was born the day a reader filled out the survey at the bottom of our story No Autopsy, No Answer about Nebraska’s coroner system. He wrote,…
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A 2024 state law requires that we map overdose deaths. We still aren’t.
In 2024, State Sen. Beau Ballard, a Republican from Lincoln, introduced a bill meant to improve the way Nebraska tracks overdoses. It became law, and now requires first…