Pittsburgh’s medical community has issued a warning about a highly potent form of heroin blamed for 17 deaths in just one week, including three Sunday morning in Allegheny County.
The 17 deaths had a common denominator: Each victim was in possession of heroin bags marked “Theraflu.” Researchers tested the bags and found they contained fentanyl, a drug 100 times more powerful than morphine.
“The fentanyl we’re seeing as a powder has to be made by somebody,” Allegheny County medical examiner Dr. Karl Williams told ABC News. “Somebody is making this somewhere in a clandestine laboratory.”
Fentanyl is administered by licensed medical practitioners are a particularly strong pain killer. Investigators believe the fentanyl that was found in the victims’ heroin bags was illegally manufactured in a lab by “some clever chemists,” the Daily Mail reported.
“We usually deal with 250 drug overdoses a year, so what’s going on is really significant,” Dr. Williams told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
City medical officials said the recent spate of fatal overdoses is similar to 1988, when 18 were killed after taking China White, the street name for a powerful synthetic form of heroin, the Mail reported.
The Washington Times Comment Policy
The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our
Comment Policy before commenting.