Story highlights The number of deceased organ donors in the United States topped 10,000 in 2017

The number of donors who had died of drug overdose jumped 144% since 2013

(CNN) Though the number of lives lost to the US opioid epidemic continues to spike, it has also contributed to a record number of organ donations.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing , the nonprofit that manages the nation's organ transplant network, early data show that the number of deceased organ donors hit a record in 2017 for the fifth straight year.

There was also a record number of total donors, both living and deceased: 16,462, up 3% from the year before.

There were more than 10,000 deceased organ donors last year, a 3% increase over the previous year and a 27% jump since 2007. More than 1,300 of those donors, or 13%, died from drug overdoses.

"About 40% of the increase (in the past five years) tracks back to the drug intoxication issue," said Dr. David Klassen, the network's chief medical officer. And although the data didn't determine which drugs contributed to those overdoses, Klassen said opioids were probably involved. "We don't have the data ... to absolutely say that with certainty, but I think that's a reasonable assumption."

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