ABC News has reported that the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania medical examiner’s office has reported, “13 people have died of suspected drug overdoses in central Pennsylvania and officials are warning and pleading with drug user to be extremely cautious.”
A tainted batch of “deadly heroin” is being blamed as the cause of more than a dozen of the overdoses in the central Pennsylvania area according to officials.
Allegheny County’s medical examiner, Dr. Karl Williams, wants to alert and warn people in the community of the dangers of this particular strain of heroin.
The police in Pittsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania have stated they believe the heroin is laced with fentanyl, a narcotic, and they’re in the process of attempting to track down its source. They’re also in the process of interviewing people who are arrested for heroin use and who are being treated for overdoses.
In the past 72-hours the police have stated there have been rashes of drug overdoses.
There have reportedly been 17 deaths in nearby counties outside the Allegheny County area that are linked to the heroin, according to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. The paper also quoted one public official as saying, “Users were warning one another to only take half their normal doses.”
ABC News coverage about the heroin epidemic indicates heroin has skyrocketed throughout the country in recent years. See more information: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/01/scourge-of-heroin-abuse-in-vermont-mirrors-national-epidemic/)
Barbara Kasey Smith is the writer of this article based on an ABC News report.
Source:
ABC News