Dozens Hospitalized As Wave Of Overdoses Sweeps Through Central, South Georgia
The substance, which people bought thinking it was Percocet, has not been identified, but officials said the street drug is “extremely potent and has required massive doses of naloxone to counteract its effects.’’ Media outlets report on the crisis out of Florida, Connecticut and California as well.
Georgia Health News:
Mystery Drug In Georgia Leads To Deaths, Hospitalizations
Powerful yellow pills sold by street dealers in Central and South Georgia have been linked to up to four deaths and the hospitalization of more than a dozen patients, the GBI and health officials said Tuesday. The pills were misrepresented to buyers as the prescription drug Percocet, an opioid pain medication, the Department of Public Health said Tuesday. (Miller, 6/6)
Reuters:
Georgia Investigating Spate Of Opioid Painkiller Overdoses
The Georgia Department of Public Health said Tuesday that emergency responders in the central and southern parts of the state treated dozens of people over a 48-hour period. Some patients were unconscious or had stopped breathing and many had to be placed on ventilators. "Patients reportedly purchased yellow pills alleged to be Percocet, an opioid pain medication," the health department said in a statement. (Woodall, 6/6)
Stat:
Mass Overdose In Georgia Leaves Up To Four Dead, Officials Say
“We’ve never seen this many overdoses in such short a time,” said Dr. Christopher Hendry, chief medical officer for Navicent Health. (Blau, 6/6)
Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Death Toll Rises In Mass Overdose In Middle Georgia
As many as four people have died in the last 48 hours as a wave of opioid overdoses has swept through communities in middle Georgia, health officials said Tuesday afternoon. More than a dozen overdose cases have been reported so far in three emergency departments in Bibb County and some surrounding counties in the past two days, said Chris Hendry, chief medical officer at Navicent Health in Macon. (Cook, 6/6)
The Associated Press:
DEA Warns Police Of Accidental Overdose Risks In Drug Fight
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday warned of a new problem presented by the nation’s drug abuse epidemic: the threat of law enforcement officers accidentally overdosing. Officers and paramedics are increasingly coming in contact with potent synthetic opioids that can be dangerous and deadly, a troubling side effect of the United States’ opioid crisis. (Gurman, 6/6)
Health News Florida:
South Florida Cities To America: ‘Don’t Send Your Drug Users Here’
The overdose call comes in to Delray Beach Fire Rescue around 7:30 p.m. on a Friday. Firefighter-paramedics — they’re trained to do both — jump into action and rush to a nearby hotel. But before they can treat this victim, another call comes in. “We have another overdose,” says firefighter-paramedic Andres Colón, “a block away.” (Haden, 6/7)
The CT Mirror:
Bills On Hate Crimes, Opioids Win Unanimous Final Approval
On the second-to-last day of the 2017 session, the evenly divided Senate turned to non-controversial House bills awaiting final action while legislators worked outside the chamber on potential compromises to deadlocked measures. The Senate has passed several of those bills since gaveling in Tuesday afternoon, including bills on hate crimes, opioids, eye care in the digital age and pregnant women in the workplace. (Pazniokas and Constable, 6/6)
California Healthline:
A ‘Safe’ Space To Shoot Up: Worth A Try In California?
Tawny Biggs’ seemingly happy childhood in the northern Los Angeles County suburb of Santa Clarita, Calif., showed no outward sign that she would one day struggle with drug addiction. As Biggs tells it, she was raised with two siblings “in a very good family” by an assistant fire-chief dad and a stay-at-home mom. Her after-school hours were filled with hockey and soccer. But paradise was lost sometime during her late teens, when emotional problems, drugs and alcohol turned Biggs into a self-described “nightmare.” One night, when she was amped up on cocaine, her boyfriend gave her a hit of something different to help her sleep: heroin. (O'Neill, 6/7)
