IN THE LAST WEEK
The perils of alcohol and drug use by young people resonated in tragic stories last week, and health officials sought to protect them from one additional danger.
At Penn State University, excessive alcohol consumption at a fraternity house in February had consequences not just for Timothy Piazza, a 19-year-old sophomore from New Jersey who died in a fall, but for 18 members of Beta Theta Pi. The student’s death led to criminal charges Friday that ranged from aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter for eight frat members down to lesser offenses of hazing and furnishing alcohol to minors for 10 others. It was an example of how seriously authorities were taking an extreme and fatal incident resulting from an off-campus pledge night that involved hazing.
The Beta Theta Pi chapter was disbanded by Penn State as part of a wider crackdown on alcohol-related Greek activities after the death, which Mr. Piazza’s father termed “a senseless and very preventable tragedy.”
In Beechview came sobering news that a girl only 11 years old had overdosed on heroin Wednesday.
The sixth-grader was found unresponsive in her home — with multiple stamp bags of heroin near her — and had to be given CPR by a family member and then administered Narcan by paramedics to revive her. She was admitted in critical condition to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
Her stunned family members reported having no idea of any problems by the youngster that would lead to heroin use, nor did they know how she would have obtained the drug. A paramedic crew chief who handled the overdose said it was the youngest such victim she had dealt with in 24 years, other than toddlers who accidentally ingest a drug.
“It sticks with you,” crew chief Stacey Yaras said. “Like, what did this kid see that she needed to escape from?”
At even younger ages, there’s widespread concern about the effects of potential lead poisoning on the developing brains of children. For that reason, the Allegheny County Board of Health unanimously voted for a requirement that children have two blood
tests for lead in their early years. If endorsed by county council and the county executive, the regulation would take effect in January and make such tests standard during childhood, similar to vaccinations. The concerns over excessive lead, which can create behavioral problems and diminished mental abilities, have arisen due to the county’s unusually old housing stock and reports of high lead levels in some of Pittsburgh’s water supply.
Pennsylvania is not one of the 11 states that call upon pediatricians to test lead levels in infants, and Allegheny County would be the first county in the state to require it.