overdose

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The Opioid Crisis May Be 24% Worse Than We Thought
Researcher Says Our Opioid
Death Stats Are Way Off
new study
Aug 8, 2017 12:11 PM CDT

Researcher Says Our Opioid Death Stats Are Way Off

There may be 24% more deaths than we think

(Newser) - The CDC statistic is a harsh one: Ninety-one Americans die from opioid overdoses—that number includes heroin and prescription opioids—every day. A University of Virginia researcher claims we're undercounting. A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates that opioid- and heroin-related mortality rates were...

She Overdosed While Pregnant, Now Faces Assault Charge

Doctors had to deliver baby prematurely

(Newser) - In a case that police say lays bare the disturbing extent of the opioid crisis, a woman in Pennsylvania faces charges of assaulting her baby by overdosing on heroin while seven months pregnant. The baby was delivered by emergency C-section Saturday after 30-year-old Kasey Dischman was found unresponsive in the...

This One Stat Shows Severity of Opioid Crisis
This One Stat Shows
Severity of Opioid Crisis
in case you missed it
Jun 10, 2017 4:54 PM CDT

This One Stat Shows Severity of Opioid Crisis

Overdoses are leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50

(Newser) - Just how bad is the opioid crisis in the US? So bad that drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for people under 50, the New York Times reports. State and county death records reveal an estimated 62,500 people died from drug overdoses last year, 19% more...

WVa's Residents Are Taking ODs Into Their Own Hands

Some neighbors are filled with contempt for addicts; others just want to help

(Newser) - Opioid addicts are using and collapsing in public in increasing numbers—their way of ensuring they won't OD and not be found until it's too late, Margaret Talbot explains in the New Yorker . "This is survival to them," she writes. "They're struggling with using...

Ohio Sues 5 Drugmakers, Says They Caused Deadly Mess

'This lawsuit is about justice, it's about fairness'

(Newser) - The Ohio attorney general sued five drugmakers on Wednesday, accusing the companies of perpetrating the state's addictions epidemic by intentionally misleading patients about the dangers of painkillers and promoting benefits of the drugs not backed by science. Attorney General Mike DeWine said the companies created a deadly mess in...

2 Counselors Fatally OD at Facility for Recovering Addicts

They were found in their bedrooms at Pa. lodge

(Newser) - "If anybody is wondering how bad the opioid epidemic has become, this case is a frightening example," said Chester County DA Tom Hogan after two drug counselors fatally overdosed at a Pennsylvania facility for recovering addicts. Residents at the Freedom Ridge Recovery Lodge found the counselors, who lived...

Smart Thinking Saves Pet Rat After Heroin Overdose

Snuggles recovering after her overdose

(Newser) - The heroin epidemic has made its way to Vancouver, British Columbia, and even the rats are being felled. In the case of Snuggles, a pet rat rushed into the Overdose Prevention Society on Sunday, volunteers were actually able to save her life after a quick-thinking pharmacy student administered naloxone (aka...

A Year Later, Big Questions Remain on Prince's Death

'New York Times' takes a look as anniversary nears

(Newser) - April 21 will mark one year since Prince's death at age 57, and the New York Times takes a look at the mysteries that still linger. The biggest one: Where did Prince get the fentanyl that killed him? Fentanyl, an opioid that is cheaper to produce than heroin but...

Dad Arrested After Boy, 13, Dies of Suspected Overdose

Robert Wylie previously charged with child endangerment

(Newser) - Fire officials found Robert Wylie banging on the door of the fire department, holding his 13-year-old son's unconscious body. But the doses of Narcan they administered couldn't save the teen. Nathan Wylie died of a suspected heroin overdose on Saturday, four days after he was taken to a...

Cluster of Amnesia Cases in Opioid Users Puzzles Doctors

They can't explain the phenomenon in Massachusetts

(Newser) - As if opioid addiction isn't bad enough on its own, something else is going on in eastern Massachusetts (and possibly beyond) that is worrying public health officials. Doctors have identified 14 opioid users who have suffered amnesia, and they can't explain why. While memory loss in and of...

Federal Prosecutor Opens Up About Son's Heroin Death

Erik Brandler died in 2007 at age 16

(Newser) - The phone at Bruce Brandler's home rang at 3:37am. It was the local hospital. His 16-year-old son was there. A suspected heroin overdose, the nurse said. Brandler didn't believe it. Erik had his problems, but heroin? It seemed impossible. Nearly 10 years later, the nation is gripped...

Couple's Fatal OD Has Another Deadly Consequence

Their infant died in the home days later

(Newser) - A fatal heroin overdose is almost commonplace these days. And news of a couple overdosing together isn't so unusual, either. But a case in Pennsylvania has just added another layer of tragedy to the surge in ODs. Police in Kernville say a man and woman died of a likely...

K9 Units Are Falling Victim to Powerful, Dangerous Drug

Police dogs are more susceptible than humans to dangers of fentanyl

(Newser) - Police officers conducting drug raids with their K9 units are now dealing with what the DEA has called an "unprecedented threat": fentanyl, the same powerful opioid that killed Prince earlier this year. Both the Miami Herald and NBC News report on the drug's dangers, which the cop canines...

Best Friends, 13, Killed by Opioid Named 'Pink'

Ryan Ainsworth, Grant Seaver died within 48 hours of each other in September

(Newser) - Two 13-year-old best friends in Utah died within 48 hours of each other in September, and now police know why: Toxicology results show that Ryan Ainsworth and Grant Seaver overdosed on a synthetic opioid nicknamed "pink," reports KSL . Authorities say they bought the drug, formally called U-47700, online...

Girl Tells School Parents Won't Wake Up; Fatal OD Suspected

There were 3 other children in the home with the bodies

(Newser) - Two adults have been found dead of suspected drug overdoses after their 7-year-old daughter told school officials in Pennsylvania she couldn't wake them up, the AP reports. The Allegheny County medical examiner says the bodies of 26-year-old Christopher Dilly and 25-year-old Jessica Lally were found Monday evening in their...

Heroin Being Cut With Drug That Can Kill an Elephant

2 counties in Indiana and Ohio had up to 60 ODs in a 2-day period this week

(Newser) - One hundred times more potent than the drug that played a role in killing Prince and 10,000 times stronger than morphine, carfentanil is the strongest opioid commercially available—an animal tranquilizer so lethal it can kill if absorbed through the skin and permanently take out a 7-ton elephant, per...

Counterfeit Drugs Found at Prince's Home Contained Fentanyl: Official

Officials still don't know how he got the drug

(Newser) - Some of the pills taken from Prince's estate in Paisley Park after his death were counterfeit drugs that actually contained fentanyl—a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin, an official close to the investigation said Sunday. The official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity...

City Struggles to Respond to 27 Overdoses in Just 5 Hours

'It was basically like a mass casualty event'

(Newser) - Twenty-seven people overdosed in less than five hours Monday in one West Virginia city, USA Today reports. "It was basically like a mass casualty event," Cabell County EMS director Gordon Merry tells CNN . The first reported overdose in Huntington came in around 3:30pm, and ambulances and other...

Parents Sue After Daughter Dies at LA Rave

Katie Dix went without medical treatment for a half-hour, the suit alleges

(Newser) - Katie Dix, the Cal State Channel Islands college student who died of an overdose at a rave at the Los Angeles County fairgrounds last August, allegedly went without medical attention for half an hour after collapsing. She'd suffered a cardiac arrest by the time she arrived at the Pomona...

33 Sickened in NYC Mass Overdose
33 Sickened in
NYC Mass Overdose
Jul 13, 2016 12:38 AM CDT

33 Sickened in NYC Mass Overdose

Authorities issue fresh warning on synthetic pot

(Newser) - More than two dozen people were sickened in an apparent mass drug overdose on a New York City street corner, sparking warnings from police and health officials about the dangers of using K2, also known as synthetic marijuana. Calls started coming in Tuesday morning that numerous people appeared to be...

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