County saw slight decrease in drug overdose deaths in 2022 but troubling trends persist

On today’s episode of The Confluence:

According to the new data released by the county, overdose deaths in 2022 declined by about 5%, or 30 deaths, compared to 2021. There were 689 fatalities last year due to drug overdoses. Dr. Karl Williams, Allegheny County’s chief medical examiner, joins us to discuss the trends in drug overdose deaths, which make up a quarter of those reviewed by the medical examiner’s office. (0:00 - 7:18)

With summer comes vacations, road trips, and of course, air travel. Extreme weather has the potential to delay some flights, but the Pittsburgh International Airport has seemingly been unfazed. Bryan Dietz, senior vice president of air service and commercial development at the Allegheny County Airport Authority says the airport saw 3% more travelers last week than the same week in 2019. Dietz says there are a greater number of people taking international flights as well, largely due to a loosening of pandemic-related restrictions in certain countries. (7:28 - 14:33)

Last week the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act went into effect, extending the right to reasonable accommodations for pregnant and postpartum workers at employers with 15 or more workers. Sophia Elliot is staff attorney with the Women’s Law Project, and she has worked with many pregnant clients seeking such accommodations. She tells us while the law could go further, it does close loopholes in existing federal law for pregnant workers. (14:37 - 22:30)