The Berrien County Board of Commissioners has received the latest county medical examiner’s report, detailing deaths reported in the county in 2023.
The report showed Berrien County’s death rate for the year settling back down to pre-COVID levels, but it also shows an increase in suicides. There was a total of 29 suicides in 2023, compared to 21 in 2022. 20 out of the 29 were men, with 12 of them in men between the ages of 26 and 44.
The report also showed drug overdose deaths in 2023 at the same level as 2022 with 50. 67% of the county’s overdose deaths in 2023 were related to opioids, compared to 86% in 2022.
There were also nine infant deaths in the county in 2023, compared to just one in 2022. Five of them were sleep-related, three were due to “extreme prematurity,” and one was due to asphyxiation caused by being wedged between a bed and a fixed object.
Berrien County had 13 homicides in 2023, compared to 18 in 2022.
Dr. Patrick Hansma with the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine told commissioners the reason for the increase in suicides is not known, but it’s something to watch. He added safe sleep education for the parents of newborns continues to be a priority for local health officials.