drug overdose

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The Opioid Crisis Is Crossing Over to Something Darker

Experts struggle to treat multi-drug use as opioid users turn to meth and other stimulants

(Newser) - The opioid epidemic has become an uphill battle with the rise of fentanyl on the streets, but experts are seeing an even scarier trend. The New York Times reports that people addicted to drugs are more likely to use multiple substances now, combining a cocktail of uppers and downers that...

More Pregnant, Postpartum Women Dying of Overdoses
More Pregnant, Postpartum
Women Dying of Overdoses
new study
Nov 24, 2023 10:10 AM CST

More Pregnant, Postpartum Women Dying of Overdoses

Study finds ratio jumped between 2018 and 2021

(Newser) - A January study found mortality rates for pregnant women and new mothers worsened during the pandemic, and a new study zeroes in on one such cause: overdoses. Researchers with the National Institute on Drug Abuse reviewed data on more than 17,000 deaths over the 2018 to 2021 period; STAT...

Ohio Woman Is Alleged Serial Killer
Serial Killer Suspect
Pleads Not Guilty
updated
Oct 30, 2023 4:38 PM CDT

Serial Killer Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

Rebecca Auborn is accused of drugging 5 men in Ohio, 4 of whom died

(Newser) - An Ohio woman who police say fatally drugged four men pleaded not guilty to 28 charges at an arraignment Monday and will be held in jail awaiting trial after waiving her chance for bond. Rebecca Auborn's pleas were entered through her attorney, Mark Hunt, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Investigators...

When Drug Users Fear They'll Die Alone, They Call Her
She Has Learned What a
Fatal Overdose Sounds Like
longform
Sep 23, 2023 5:30 AM CDT

She Has Learned What a Fatal Overdose Sounds Like

Meet an operator for Never Use Alone

(Newser) - Jessica Blanchard has become an expert in knowing when an overdose is likely to be fatal—all by listening to the person on the other end of the phone line. Writing for Slate , Mary Harris and Aymann Ismail explain Blanchard is an operator for Never Use Alone. It's a...

Dealer Pleads Guilty in Death of Wire Star
Dealer Gets 10 Years
in Death of Wire Star
UPDATED
Aug 19, 2023 9:03 AM CDT

Dealer Gets 10 Years in Death of Wire Star

Irvin Cartagena supplied fentanyl-laced heroin that killed Michael K. Williams

(Newser) - The man who sold Michael K. Williams the drugs that killed him has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. The actor, best known for his roles in The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, died after taking fentanyl-laced heroin he bought from Irvin Cartagena in Brooklyn on Sept. 5, 2021....

Trial to Begin in Dentist's 'Depraved Heart' Murder Case

James Ryan is accused of supplying his young girlfriend with anesthesia drugs

(Newser) - Jury selection begins Monday in a high-profile murder case in Maryland involving a dentist accused of supplying his girlfriend with anesthesia drugs he took from his office, reports the Washington Post . Defense lawyers for James Ryan, now 50, will argue that he didn't kill 25-year-old Sarah Harris but that...

Elderly Drug Dealer Sentenced in Wire Actor's Death

72-year-old got 2.5 years in prison

(Newser) - One of the men arrested in the overdose death of The Wire actor Michael K. Williams was on Tuesday sentenced to two and a half years behind bars. Carlos Macci, 72, pleaded guilty in April to possessing and distributing narcotics, NBC News reports. "I would like to say, your...

De Niro Grandson Dies at 19
De Niro's Daughter:
Fentanyl Killed My Son
UPDATED
Jul 7, 2023 5:46 AM CDT

De Niro's Daughter: Fentanyl Killed My Son

'Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him'

(Newser) - Robert De Niro's eldest daughter says her son was killed by pills laced with fentanyl. In a comment on an Instagram post , Drena De Niro blamed drug dealers for the death of 19-year-old Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, NBC reports. "Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were...

US Army Sees Record Number of Fatal ODs From This Drug

Fentanyl is hitting all military branches, but none as hard as the Army, and loved ones want answers

(Newser) - Earlier this year, Congress received some sobering data from the Department of Defense showing that fentanyl was involved in 88% of the 2021 deaths of US troops who'd died of drug overdoses—up from just 36% five years earlier. "Our military is not immune to the opioid epidemic,...

US to Study Controversial Idea for Drug Users

$5M will go toward looking at 2 'safe injection sites' in New York and Rhode Island

(Newser) - For the first time, the US government will pay for a large study measuring whether overdoses can be prevented by so-called safe injection sites, places where people can use heroin and other illegal drugs and be revived if they take too much. As the AP reports, the grant provides more...

Man Found Dead on Work Trip Encountered Drugs, Prostitutes

Nathan Millard, found with fentanyl in system, died of accidental drug overdose: report

(Newser) - Nathan Millard, the Georgia businessman whose body was found wrapped in plastic in Baton Rouge earlier this month, died of an accidental drug overdose, authorities say. A toxicology report shows the 42-year-old father of five had fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol (alcohol) in his system at the time of death. Police...

Narcan Could Soon Be Available Over the Counter

FDA panels support change making overdose-reversing drug much more widely available

(Newser) - Two panels of Food and Drug Administration advisers have unanimously recommended that Narcan be made available over the counter, a move that could help reduce deaths in the ongoing opioid epidemic. The overdose-reducing nasal spray, known generically as naloxone, is already widely used by first responders and outreach workers. But...

Police: Fentanyl Killing Teens May Have Come From One Home

Authorities say adults in home distributed pills to teens who sold them to other teens

(Newser) - Police say 10 students ages 13 to 17 have overdosed on fentanyl, three of them fatally, since September in the Carrollton area near Dallas, Texas—and the pills in question may all have come from one house. The students involved attend or attended RL Turner High School, Dewitt Perry Middle...

US Life Expectancy Falls for Second Year in a Row

COVID, overdoses were main culprits in 2021's figures, CDC says

(Newser) - More than 20 years of gradual increases in American life expectancy have been wiped out by the twin plagues of COVID-19 and opioid overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency has released its final estimates for 2021, and "it's not a good year...

Teenager Thought He Bought a Percocet. It Killed Him

Zach Didier lost his life to fentanyl

(Newser) - In the wake of a 17-year-old's perplexing death, a soccer teammate offered his parents a clue. Zach Didier—an Eagle Scout and school-musical star who died of a suspected overdose—had no history of drug use or any evidence of drugs in his bedroom. But he had once said...

Dad: My Baby ODed on Fentanyl at Public Park

10-month-old now OK; San Francisco city officials, media trying to confirm exactly what happened

(Newser) - A nanny's trip this week to a Bay Area public park with 10-month-old twins in her care turned terrifying, with the family and local authorities sharing that one of the boys was exposed to fentanyl during their visit. Wendy Marroqui tells NBC Bay Area that she took Senna and...

Fentanyl-Laced Cocaine Blamed for Deaths of 3 'High-Achieving' New Yorkers

Police say the buyers were unaware that the coke they ordered contained deadly synthetic opioid

(Newser) - It's no secret that—although the heady Wolf of Wall Street days have passed—cocaine has remained popular among many high-achieving professionals in New York City. Per the Wall Street Journal , those professionals included Ross Mtangi, 40, a trading executive at Credit Suisse Group; Julia Ghahramani, 26, a first-year...

Former LA Angels Employee Gets 22 Years in Pitcher's Death

Judge added 2 years because of remarks Eric Kay made about Tyler Skaggs

(Newser) - Update: Former Los Angeles Angels staff member Eric Kay has been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for giving pitcher Tyler Skaggs the drugs that killed him. District Judge Terry Means said he was sentencing Eric Kay, the team's former communications director, to two years over the statutory...

Scott Adams Offers Eyebrow- Raising Take on Troubled Young Men

'Dilbert' creator sees only 2 options available: 'murder your own son or watch him die'

(Newser) - Scott Adams has had controversial takes on gun violence before, but his latest one, on the Highland Park mass shooting , is spurring backlash from those speaking on mental health illness and addiction. The 65-year-old creator of the Dilbert cartoon strip posted an eyebrow-raising series of tweets on Wednesday that discussed...

Suspected 'Mass Fentanyl Poisoning Event' Kills 9 in Florida

Authorities suspect other drugs were tainted with fentanyl

(Newser) - Nine people died over the holiday weekend in Gadsden County, Florida, in what officials are calling a "potential mass fentanyl poisoning event." Two women were found dead of an apparent drug overdose Friday, prompting the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office to issue an alert regarding drugs potentially tainted...

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