Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Local Officials In South Warn About 'Gray Death,' A Mix Of Heroin And Fentanyl That Can Be Deadly To Even Touch
CBS News: 'Gray Death' Is A Drug So Dangerous, Police Say You Shouldn't Even Touch It
A local police department in Louisiana is warning people about a potentially lethal drug combination called "gray death" — a substance so powerful, they warn you shouldn't even touch it. St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana is alerting the public about the drug in wake of recent arrests. David Spencer, a spokesperson for the St. Mary's Parish Sheriff's Office, told CBS affiliate KLFY-TV that "gray death" is a heroin that has been cut with fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says is 80 to 100 times stronger than heroin. (Brito, 2/6)
The Associated Press: San Francisco To Open Tent 'Sobering' Center For Meth Users
A center for people experiencing methamphetamine-induced psychosis will open in San Francisco to help them get sober in a safe place, the latest effort to address the city's rising drug overdoses and rampant street drug use. The center, believed to be the first in the U.S. specifically for people who are high on methamphetamine, will open late this spring on a city-owned parking lot in the Tenderloin neighborhood, where streets are littered with syringes and addicts congregate, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday. (2/6)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Florissant Dentist Gets 18 Months In Prison For Over-Prescribing Pills
A dentist from Florissant was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to 18 months in prison for illegally prescribing drugs to a former patient and employee with whom he was having an affair. Dr. Bradley A. Seyer’s girlfriend died of a fentanyl overdose in Des Peres in July 2018. Some of the drugs Seyer prescribed were in her system when she died, but he did not prescribe the fentanyl, according to his plea agreement. (Patrick, 2/5)
