The number of overdose deaths in Kentucky last year dropped by 30.2% — down to 1,410 lives lost — giving state leaders a surge of confidence that prevention and treatment efforts are making progress against an addiction epidemic they say is shattering families across the state.
This was the third straight yearly decrease in drug overdose deaths for the state, although prior declines were substantially smaller. Kentucky has long been plagued by high rates of addiction to opioid painkillers, and fatal overdoses surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when treatment was hard to get and people were socially isolated.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who announced the latest overdose statistics on Thursday, called the results a “watershed moment” reflecting years of painstaking work to combat the spread and use of drugs.
“This is what we have been hoping for and praying for,” Beshear said. “What we’re seeing here ought to give everyone who’s worked so hard to get to this point ... hope that we can do even more."
State Attorney General Russell Coleman, a Republican, said Kentuckians should “rejoice in every life saved from this scourge,” but warned that powerful illicit drugs like fentanyl continue to pose a threat.
"As little as one pill can and is killing our sons and daughters,” Coleman said in a statement.
Fentanyl and methamphetamine continued to be the most prevalent drugs contributing to overdose deaths in Kentucky.
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has steered huge sums of federal funding to his home state to combat its addiction woes, said he was encouraged by the gains in combating the drug crisis, from stemming the flow of illicit drugs to offering treatment services in communities.
“I’ve always worked to keep Kentucky at the forefront of our national response to the drug crisis,” McConnell said in a statement. "We are finally making progress in restoring the Southern Border, but there’s still a lot of work left to do in the commonwealth to help those struggling with addiction.”
Kentucky's drop reflected broader gains achieved in the U.S. There were about 97,000 U.S. overdose deaths in the 12 months that ended last June 30, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was down 14% from the estimated 113,000 for the prior 12-month period.
Overdose death rates nationwide began steadily climbing in the 1990s because of opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and more recently fentanyl.
Beshear, seen as a potential candidate for the White House in 2028, said plenty of groups were deserving of credit for Kentucky's big decline in overdose deaths. He praised law enforcement efforts to remove dangerous drugs from circulation and the work of addiction treatment centers and other recovery services. And he credited those Kentuckians battling addiction who reached out for help.
“Whether it’s your first, fifth or 10th attempt, we want to stand behind you," the governor said. "We want to provide you the best help that we can.”
Other factors, he said, include the distribution of Narcan, which can reverse overdoses of opioids, as well as the availability of addiction services through Medicaid and the work of syringe exchange programs.
“Regardless of what the politics say, syringe exchange programs work," Beshear said. "They help us get to know people and they help us to save lives.”
Meanwhile, Coleman has rolled out a youth-focused initiative aimed at keeping young people away from deadly substances.
With all those efforts, the challenge now is to continue driving down fatal overdoses, Beshear said.
“It ought to tell us that an epidemic that arose in our time, we should be able to defeat in our time,” the governor said.
FILE - Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear sits for an interview in Versailles, Ky., May 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)
FILE - The overdose-reversal drug Narcan is displayed during training for employees of the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), Dec. 4, 2018, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
