Street drug blamed for deaths

Counterfeit pills aren’t an epidemic in Rome and Floyd County yet, but local officials are preparing.

Georgia authorities believe at least four people have died and dozens more have become ill in the central part of the state after overdosing on an unknown street drug.

State officials said it’s the first suspected “cluster” of deaths and illnesses in Georgia tied to a specific drug.

“This is something we have feared would happen over a period of time,” said Dr. Patrick O’Neal, director of health protection for the state Department of Public Health. “This is a national issue.”

Meanwhile, the GBI has issued a public safety alert for counterfeit pills that contain synthetic opioids, which can be unwittingly absorbed through the skin.

Once it began studying the incidents, the state crime lab found more than 450 pills that contained fentanyl and other dangerous drugs, but were being sold on the street as pharmaceuticals.

So far this year, 16 deaths have been attributed to fentanyl analogues.

“It hasn’t saturated us yet, but it’s one of those things you look out for,” Rome Police Chief Denise Downer-McKinney said.

“You always want to stay one step ahead because of what is going on in our neighboring communities.”

Rome police were trained in February on the use of naloxone — an instant antidote for overdoses from oxycodone, fentanyl, heroin and other opioid drugs — and they all carry the kits.

The Floyd County Police Department has also instituted the program, spokesman Jerome Poole said Tuesday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 1,300 people fatally overdosed on drugs in Georgia last year.

State officials said they’re still awaiting tests to confirm the cause of the recent cluster of deaths and overdoses, which were reported in middle Georgia.

But local officials there said several people told doctors and nurses that they became ill after swallowing yellow pills purchased on the street.

Emergency workers responded to the numerous reports of overdoses in Centerville, Perry, Warner Robins and Albany in about 48 hours. Reports of overdoses continued coming in on Tuesday, clustered at three emergency departments in Bibb County and some surrounding counties, said Chris Hendry, chief medical officer at Navicent Health in Macon.

“There is a new drug that’s surfaced in our community,” Hendry said.

Most patients arrived at hospitals unconscious and several needed medical equipment to breathe and “aggressive” doses of overdose-reversing drugs, said Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director of the Georgia Poison Center. Some of the affected

people told nurses and doctors that they swallowed one pill before becoming ill.

The drug is being sold on the streets as a pain medication called Percocet, but the actual substance causing overdoses remained unknown on Wednesday.

Patient tests don’t always reveal the cause of overdoses and it’s difficult to test for newer synthetic drugs, said Dr. Laura Edison, a medical epidemiologist with the state Department of Public Health. So far, police haven’t found a pill similar to those described by sickened people.

Anyone who finds a similar drug is asked to call law enforcement and avoid touching it in the meantime. Georgia’s Medical Amnesty Law protects victims and callers seeking medical assistance at drug or alcohol overdose scenes. Also, anyone who knows someone at-risk can get a naloxone prescription through their doctor.

The grassroots advocacy group Georgia Overdose Prevention also gives naloxone kits away for free. For more information, post a message on their Georgia 911 Good Samaritan Law Facebook page or visit GeorgiaOverdosePrevention.org.