Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc (TTNP)

[TRUISM]

Concerns Grow With Spike In Heroin Overdoses In Washtenaw County
By Darcie Moran | on April 20, 2015 at 5:45 AM, updated April 20, 2015 at 5:46 AM
Click For mlive.com Link


Approximately 4 grams of heroin in corner ties for street distribution lays inside of an evidence bag on Friday, Feb. 7, 2014 after it was seized by Flint Area Narcotics Group. In 2013, FANG arrested 62 people on 91 heroin-related charges, seizing 763.5 grams of the drug. Four people died over heroin overdose the first weekend in February 2014. Jake May | MLive.com



Concern continues to rise across the region following a recent spike in heroin overdoses and deaths.

Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office Commander Marlene Radzik said a significant increase in overdoses has been seen in the last month and a half to two months.

"It's an epidemic now," she said.

But the trend isn't new.

Washtenaw County has seen 23 heroin-related overdose deaths in the last five months, seven of which involved the prescription painkiller fentanyl, according to a release from the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.

Drug-related deaths have been on the rise since 2012, according to data from the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner's Office and Washtenaw County Public Health.

In 2012, just over 30 heroin and prescription opiate deaths were reported in the county, the data shows. In 2014, more than 60 were reported.


A chart from the Washtenaw County Public Health and the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner's Office shows an increase in drug-related deaths since 2012.
Courtesy of Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office


While some officials have said drug use does not discriminate by age, gender, race or income-level, emergency room admissions tracked from April 2011 to June 2014 by the Washtenaw County Public Health officials show some similarities.

Patients admitted into area emergency rooms with overdoses on prescription opioids tend to be white women, with an average age of about 51-years-old, said Washtenaw County Public Health spokeswoman Susan Cerniglia.

About half of overdose admissions during the time frame were for abuse of prescription opioids, including methadone.

Patients coming in with heroin overdoses tend to be white men, 40-years-old or younger, with an average age of 32-years-old, she said.

But law enforcement has been seeing even younger people using drugs, Radzik said.

Radzik said anecdotally, starting about five or six years ago, she began seeing more young adults as users. About 15 years ago, Radzik said she recalled seeing older users.

In reviewing a number of fatal overdoses, Radzik said she noticed that users often begin by taking prescription medication for sports-related and other injuries.

"Now they're done with their rehab or physical therapy and they're addicted," Radzik said. "They'll buy pills off the street. Vicodin is readily available off the street, and OxyContin."

"They turn to heroin because it's much cheaper."

Radzik said the situation becomes more dangerous if addicts are rehabilitated and relapse by taking the same amount of drugs they previously took, because they no longer have a tolerance.

But these days, even a tolerance for heroin and other opioids won't protect against overdose and death.

While toxicology reports won't come back for months, at least, Radzik said she suspects the recent spike in overdoses is more due to what's in the heroin being used, as opposed to more people using it.

The University of Michigan Health System released a warning Monday, after noting a spike in fentanyl-related deaths.

In the release, Washtenaw County Medical Examiner Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen said that the statistics on fentanyl-related drug deaths suggest an epidemic.

"We are increasingly seeing signs of what appears to be a return to the epidemic levels of ten years ago, when fentanyl-related drug overdoses were blamed for 236 excess drug deaths," he said.

About a third of all drug related deaths in Washtenaw and Wayne counties this year have been related to use of the prescription painkiller, according to the release.

Some officials believe users are unaware of the dangers of fentanyl and fentanyl combinations.

"That is an incredibly strong drug that some people are getting unaware or using it in a way that they're unsure of," Cerniglia said.

Normal treatments for heroin or other opioid overdoses may not save a patient that has injected a combination with fentanyl, Jentzen said in the recent release.

In any case, fentanyl can be too fast-acting.

In some recent cases, Radzik said it's believed users thought they were injecting pure heroin, but instead injected pure fentanyl.

"We have had a few cases where it's an instant death," she said. "They're still holding the needle in their hand."

Officials hope by getting the information of the spike out there, users can be warned before it's too late, Radzik said.

In addition, she said she hopes the information will lead to more arrests of dealers and increased efforts to connect addicts with resources.

Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton said in a release that the community will have to work together to find both long- and short-term solutions.

"The impact transcends the abuser and their family," Clayton said. "All of us are eventually affected."

As for family members of suspected drug users, Radzik said she doesn't understand the concern of "being too nosy."

Check their backpacks, check their cars," she said. "This could save their life."

According to the release, signs of drug use by a loved one could include:

* Sudden changes in behavior or actions

* Disorientation

* Cycles of hyper-alertness and then nodding off

* Lethargic or droopy appearance

* Needle or "poke" marks on arms or other parts of the body

The discovery of paraphernalia could also suggest drug use, police said.

Paraphernalia and other items include:

* Needles or syringes

* Burned silver spoons

* Aluminum foil or gum wrappers with burn marks

* Belts or shoe strings fashioned as a tourniquet

* Small plastic bags with a white powdery residue

* Water pipes or other pipe

* Laxatives, as opiates tend to cause constipation

Those with a loved one suffering from addiction or suffering addiction themselves can call Dawn Farm at 734-669-8265 or Home of New Vision at 734-975-1602 to learn more about addiction or get help.






TRUTH