Displaying items by tag: fentanyl

Rittman Police, along with Fire and EMS, are reporting a rash of drug overdoses over the Fourth of July holiday.

Police Chief Ray Arcuri tells the Medina Gazette that it's the most overdoses he's seen in such a short period of time, just two days July 3rd and 4th, since taking over the position three years ago.

The paper's reporting at least seven overdoses, including two by the same man.

Chief Arcuri believes that the heroin was cut with something stronger, likely fentanyl or carfentanil, and suspects that it came from Akron.

On Wednesday afternoon, Akron Police Officers responded to a call of a woman overdosing at a gas station on Mogadore Road about noon, according to the report. When they arrived, they found the woman passed out in the front passenger seat of a Buick and an 11 month old baby boy in the back seat.

Paramedics responded to the scene, reviving the woman with narcan, and then transporting her to Akron City.

While police were still there, the child's father, 29-year-old Andrew C. Carter of Mogadore, was arrested when he returned to the car. He's been booked into the Summit County Jail on felony child endangering charges. The baby, meanwhile, is in the custody of Child Services.

The woman later told police they'd bought Fentanyl along Manchester Road.  

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(APD) Around noon yesterday, officers responded to an overdose at a gas station in the 2500 block of Mogadore Road.  When officers arrived, they observed an unresponsive female in the front seat of a 1998 Buick Century.  Officers then observed the female’s 11 month old son in the back seat of the car.  While paramedics were administering Narcan to the female, the male driver came over to the car.

Paramedics revived the female and transported her to Akron City Hospital for further treatment.  The adult male, Andrew C. Carter, 29, of Herbert Street in Mogadore, was charged with child endangering and booked into the Summit County Jail.  The child was placed into the custody of the Summit County Child Services.

The female stated they bought Fentanyl on Manchester Road.

Did you miss 1590 WAKR's Opioid Roundtable? If so, you missed a great conversation featuring some of the people who are making a difference on the opioid epidemic in our area, including:

• Travis Bornstein - Hope Is Alive
• Denny Wilson - FI Community Housing
• Greg McNeil - Founder, Cover 2 Resource
• Deborah Foster-Koch - Executive Director IBH
• Jerry Craig - Summit County ADM Board
• Raynard Packard - Packard Institute
• Darryl Brake - Summit County Community Partnership
• Kelly MacMullin - Summa Health
• Barberton Police Chief Vincent Morber
• Elliot Kolkovich - Summit County Prosecutor’s Office

You can hear the entire roundtable, plus bonus interviews from the Jasen Sokol Show, in the playlist below.

The latest numbers from the state are out on opioid overdose deaths in Ohio -- and increase of more than one thousand dead by drug OD from 2015 to 2016. Breaking it down by county, Summit County had 25.5 deaths per 100,000 population to lead the greater Akron area, followed by Portage, Stark, Wayne and Medina County in the teens. The worst in our ara was Trumbull County with 34.2 deaths per 100,000. The deadliest county in Ohio is Montgomery -- the Dayton area -- with 42.5 deaths per hundred thousand.

The deadliest drug mixture comes from Fentanyl-related overdoses, nearly two thirds of the total.

READ the entire report at the .pdf link at the bottom

Local Counties

Stark 16.0 per hundred thousand population

Wayne 15.0

Portage 17.1

Medina 13.8

Cuyahoga/Cleveland 23.4

Mahoning/Youngstown 25.1

Trumbull/Warren 34.2

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(Ohio Department of Health) Ohio's opioid epidemic continued to evolve in 2016 with stronger drugs driving an increase in unintentional overdose deaths, according to a new report released by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). The report shows a sharp rise in overdose deaths involving the opioid fentanyl, the emergence of more deadly fentanyl-related drugs like carfentanil, and indications that cocaine is now being used with fentanyl and other opiates. The report also contains some promising news – the fewest prescription opioid overdose deaths since 2009.

"The continued increase in opioid-related deaths reaffirms that we still have much work to do, but Ohio is seeing important progress in reducing the number of prescription opioids available for abuse and prescription-related overdose deaths," said Dr. Mark Hurst, medical director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and interim medical director of ODH. "This progress is significant because prescription opioid abuse is frequently a gateway to heroin and fentanyl use later on."

Overdose deaths increased from 3,050 in 2015 to 4,050 last year, and fentanyl and related drugs were involved in 58.2 percent of them. By comparison, fentanyl was involved in 37.9 percent of overdose deaths in 2015, 19.9 percent in 2014, 4 percent in 2013 and 3.9 percent 2012. Illegally produced fentanyl can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin, and carfentanil and other related drugs can be even stronger.

With the emergence of carfentanil in 2016, the fentanyl-related drug was involved in 340 overdose deaths, most of them during the second half of the year. The number of cocaine-related overdose deaths increased from 685 in 2015 to 1,109 in 2016 – a 61.9 percent increase. Of cocaine-related overdose deaths, 80.2 percent also involved an opiate, and 55.8 percent involved fentanyl and related opiates in particular.

Of all unintentional drug overdose deaths, the percentage of prescription opioid-related deaths declined for the fifth straight year in 2016, and the number of such deaths declined 15.4 percent from 667 in 2015 to 564 in 2016, the fewest since 2009. Opioid prescribing in Ohio declined for a fourth consecutive year in 2016, according to the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy. Between 2012 and 2016, the total number of opioids dispensed to Ohio patients decreased by 162 million doses or 20.4 percent. There was a 78.2 percent decrease in the number of people engaged in the practice of "doctor shopping" for controlled substances since 2012.

This progress corresponds with efforts to reduce the prescription opioid supply available for diversion and abuse by stepping up law enforcement efforts, working with medical professionals to establish opioid prescribing guidelines, and empowering prescribers and pharmacists to prevent opioid abuse using Ohio's prescription drug monitoring system, the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS).

Ohio is investing about $1 billion each year to help communities battle the scourge of drug abuse and addiction at the local level, including significant funding to help address treatment, prevention and law enforcement.

those resources include:

-Helping communities purchase the life-saving drug naloxone
- Investing in specialized drug courts that link offenders with treatment
- Providing safe, stable housing to help drug-addicted Ohioans recover
- Increasing funding for individuals needing addiction and behavioral health treatment
- Enforcing Ohio's drug laws to prevent the illegal distribution of powerful synthetic opioids

Ohio's new two-year state budget includes an additional $170 million to support local and state efforts to combat opioid abuse and overdose deaths. At this year's State of the State Address, Gov. John R. Kasich asked the Third Frontier Commission to provide up to $20 million to help bring new scientific breakthroughs to the battle against drug abuse and addiction. The Third Frontier Commission approved this request in May and will announce the first funded projects in December.

The state also is surging resources into communities hardest hit by Ohio's opioid epidemic.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will receive up to $26 million a year during the next two years through the federal 21st Century Cures Act to help fight Ohio's opioid epidemic at the state and local levels. The funding will help support medication-assisted treatment; prevention; screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment; recovery supports; workforce devel­opment; and addressing secondary trauma among first responders (EMS personnel, firefighters, law enforcement, etc.).

ODH has been awarded a four-year federal grant totaling $6.6 million to combat prescription drug overdoses. ODH has awarded grants to 14 high-burden counties to implement comprehensive prescription drug overdose prevention programs focusing on coalition development, healthcare prescriber education and healthcare system changes for safer opioid prescribing practices, and increasing access to the opiate overdose reversal drug naloxone.

In addition, members of the Governor's Opiate Action Team have met with local leaders in 20 Ohio communities that have the highest burden of drug overdoses to ensure that communities are mounting a coordinated response and taking advantage of the tools and resources that the state has made available. Promising local practices were identified during these visits and have helped inform the development of an updated Action Guide to Address Opioid Abuse as a resource for Ohio's communities.

Greg McNeil from Cover2 Resources hopes test strips that detect fentanyl in heroin will soon be as available as Narcan and needle exchanges.

Inspired by a similar program in New York City, McNeil is working with the ADAMHS Board of Cuyahoga County to implement a pilot program in the Cleveland area. The strips, which cost around $1, only detect fentanyl but a similar strip to detect carfentanil is in the works.

McNeil joined Jasen to talk about the program.

Derrick Sales, 24, of Akron, was sentenced to eight years in prison Friday for selling the fentanyl that killed a Cuyahoga Falls woman back in June of last year. 

Court documents show that Sales sold the deadly opioid to Sheena Moore who was found dead in her home on June 9, 2016. An autopsy later revealed it was in fact fentanyl that killed her. Sales was arrested a charged with Involuntary Manslaughter, Having a Weapon Under Disability, and Aggravated Trafficking in Fentanyl and Carfentanil, all of which were felonies. He was found guilty in Summit County Common Pleas Court on April 14, 2017. 

In a statement released Friday, Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said, “These drugs have devastated our community and these dealers of death need to be held accountable. We will fight every day for people like Sheena Moore. Sheena never had a chance to live her life. Sheena’s grieving family is forced to pick up the pieces because these drug dealers have no regard for the destruction they leave behind.”

Moore was 31-years-old. 

A bill passed by the Ohio Senate this week would lead to harsher sentences for fentanyl traffickers.

Senate Bill 1, sponsored by State Sen. Frank LaRose (R-Hudson), lowers the amount of fentanyl for which someone can be charged with felony trafficking. Under current law, LaRose says a trafficker has to have enough heroin to kill 10,000 people before they can be charged with a felony. Fentanyl is frequently being mixed with heroin, creating a much more deadly concoction than straight heroin. The bill now moves to the General Assembly.

LaRose joined Jasen to talk about the bill and his proposal for congressional redistricting reform.

Summit County officials estimate that 2016 was a record-setting year for the number of drug overdose deaths in the county. 

Tests are still being conducted, and won't be completed until Spring, 2017, but officials estimate the total number of overdose deaths is somewhere between 225 and 250 for 2016. That would be an 11.3% increase over 2015, according to officials. 

Dr. Margo Erme with Summit County Public Health says, while the numbers are not surprising, there needs to be concentrated effort from health officials, law enforcement, and the public. "There is no one solution," Erme says. "We did not get to the situation overnight and it's multifactorial as to how we got here, so there is not going to be a single fix. 

Dr. Erme notes the number of visits to Summit County emergency departments that were attributed to drug overdoses was about 2,423. She says that has a lot to do with the prevalence of more deadly drugs, including fentanyl and carfental. 

Barberton police say they've made a drug bust at a home on 5th Street Northeast.

Police say they served a search warrant at about 4:30 on Thursday afternoon, and seized fentanyl, diazepam and other drug instruments and counterfeit cash.

45 year-old David Gumm of the 5th Street Northeast home, and 36 year-old Brian Segedy of Barberton, both face felony drug possession charges.

Both were booked into the Summit County Jail.

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(Barberton Police Department, news release) Friday, October 14,2016 - At approximately 4:30 pm yesterday, the Barberton Police Department SWAT Team along with Barberton Narcotics Detectives conducted a search warrant of a resident at 233 5 ST NE in the City of Barberton. Investigators seized Fentanyl, Diazepam tablets, numerous syringes and other drug instruments and counterfeit U.S. Currency.

David P. Gumm, 45, of 233 5 ST NE was charged with Possession of Drugs-Fentanyl, a felony of the 4th degree, and Possession of Criminal Tools, a misdemeanor of the 1st degree.

Brian Segedy, 36, of Barberton was charged with Possession of Drugs-Fentanyl, a felony of the 4th degree, Possession of Drugs-Fentanyl, a felony of the 4th degree, Possession of Drugs-Diazepam, a misdemeanor of the 2nd degree and Possession of Criminal Tools, a misdemeanor of the 1st degree.

Both subjects are being held in the Summit County Jail.

An Akron man has been indicted for selling fentanyl linked to a fatal overdose.

The U.S. Attorney's Office Northern Ohio says 31 year-old Steven Daniels was indicted in federal court on charges of possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute.

Prosecutors say Daniels allegedly sold the drug that caused an overdose of an Akron man in April.

(U.S. Attorney's Office, news release) An Akron man was indicted in federal court for selling fentanyl that caused a fatal overdose earlier this year, law enforcement officials said.

Steven D. Daniels, 31, was indicted on one count each of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl. The latter carries a sentencing enhancement because Daniels allegedly sold fentanyl that caused the fatal overdose of a person identified in the indictment as T.B. That took place on April 2 in Akron, according to the indictment.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry F. DeBaggis following an investigation by the Akron Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration.

If convicted, the defendant's sentence will be determined by the court after a review of the federal sentencing guidelines and factors unique to the case, including the defendant's prior criminal record (if any), the defendant's role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Robert Tepper, 54, of Akron is facing charges that he provided the deadly dose of fentanyl that killed his wife.

Back on April 3, 2016 Tepper called 911 to report his wife, 52-year-old Karen Tepper, was unresponsive in their home on Moon Street in Akron.

EMS arrived and shortly after pronounced Karen Tepper dead on the scene. Robert admitted to buying the drugs and giving them to his wife.

Tepper is charged with involuntary manslaughter and corrupting another with drugs; both felonies. 

A new proposed law hopes to plug a loophole that brings in the powerful drugs fentanyl and carfentanil into the U.S...which have laced heroin in Akron and other cities in Ohio.

Sen. Rob Portman's bill would require foreign shippers to provide electronic data in advance when using the U.S. postal system.

"Information would include who and where it's coming from, who its going to, where it's going, what's in it," Sen. Portman told reporters in a late Tuesday afternoon conference call. "This information I think would make it much less likely that these chemists who are pushing this poison would use the mail system as they do know."

Sen. Portman tells reporters that using the U.S. mail system allows shippers in countries like China and India to get around standards that already exist for private carriers,

He says it would will help U.S. customs agents go after possibly illegal shipments that could end up here.

Portman plans to introduce the proposed legislation this week.

The Ohio Department of Health has released their Unintentional Drug Overdose report for 2015, revealing a sharp increase in the number of fenatanyl-related deaths since 2013.

We are certainly no stranger to fentanyl-related overdoses, as locally in Summit County the number of overdoses reported to local emergency rooms have skyrocketed this year, most notably in June and July. 

The Department of Health report indicates the number of fenatanyl-related deaths in the state rose more than doubled between 2014 and 2015. Meanwhile, overall drug overdose deaths rose from 2531 in 2014 to 3040 last year.

See the full report below: 

(Columbus, OH) - The number of unintentional drug overdose deaths in Ohio increased again in 2015, driven by a sharp rise in fentanyl-related deaths, according to a new report released by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). The number of fentanyl-related deaths in Ohio has increased from 84 in 2013, to 503 in 2014 and rose to 1,155 in 2015. Overall, drug overdose deaths in Ohio increased from 2,531 in 2014 to 3,050 in 2015. 

The report also dramatically demonstrates the rapidly changing nature of the battle against drug abuse.  As the state has worked with physicians to curb prescription opiate abuse, the number of prescription opiate overdose deaths have begun to level off.

“Ohio was one of the first states to see the rise of fentanyl over the past couple of years, as the opiate epidemic continues to evolve to more powerful drugs,” said Dr. Mark Hurst, medical director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “We knew when we started this battle five years ago that progress wouldn’t be easy, but we are well prepared to stay on the leading edge of fighting this epidemic thanks to the multi-faceted strategies we have put into place.”

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic narcotic that is estimated to be 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. The vast majority of fentanyl reports by law enforcement in drug seizures result from illegally produced and trafficked fentanyl, not diverted prescription fentanyl.

Last fall, Ohio requested assistance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help better understand the increase in fentanyl-related deaths. CDC issued a report that provided insight into fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Ohio, and also noted that “the state has launched a comprehensive response” to address the issue.

The use of naloxone, the opiate reversal drug, has been vital to saving lives and that is why Ohio has increased funding to purchase naloxone for first responders through local health departments. In 2015, Ohio EMS personnel administered 19,782 doses of naloxone – 7,207 more doses than in 2013. More than one dose of naloxone may have been administered to a single patient to reverse the opiate overdose.

A targeted campaign to raise awareness about the signs of a drug overdose was launched in May to urge family members and friends of people who use drugs to obtain naloxone to administer during an overdose while waiting on first-responders to arrive. The campaign focuses on 15 Ohio counties that accounted for 80 percent of the state’s fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2014. 

“In the midst of this growing opiate epidemic, we are seeing positive indications that our aggressive efforts are working to reduce opioid prescription pain medications available for abuse,” said ODH Medical Director Dr. Mary DiOrio “There were 81 million fewer opioid doses dispensed to Ohio patients since the state took initiatives to curb opiates, and the number of people who try to get controlled substances from multiple doctors has dramatically decreased. Also, the percentage of prescription opioid-related deaths compared to all unintentional overdose deaths declined in Ohio for the fourth straight year.”

DiOrio attributes the decline in the number of opiates dispensed to Ohio patients with efforts to reduce the prescription pill supply, increased law enforcement efforts, empowering prescribers and pharmacists to use Ohio’s prescription drug monitoring system, the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System, and working with medical professionals to establish opioid prescribing guidelines for healthcare professionals who treat chronic pain and acute pain.

“The state has been very aggressive in implementing new strategies to strengthen Ohio’s fight against opiates, but we are reminded today of the difficult road ahead as the epidemic evolves at a rapid pace,” said Andrea Boxill, the coordinator of the Governor’s Cabinet Opiate Action Team and deputy director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. “In the face of the continued rise in drug overdoses, we believe that Ohio has one of the most comprehensive approaches in the nation to combatting opiate abuse and drug overdoses, and we will continue to evolve our efforts to address the changes that we are seeing in the drug market.”

A summary of the 2015 Ohio Drug Overdose Report is available here, and the full report is available here. A list of new strategies to combat the opiate epidemic, including fentanyl, is available here. A detailed list of Ohio’s past and ongoing efforts tackling the supply of drugs, preventing drug abuse before it starts, treating those who fall prey to drug addiction, and reversing drug overdoses with naloxone is available here.

17 overdoses and one death in one day have city and county officials reacting to Akron's heroin epidemic.

Akron mayor Dan Horrigan says the problem can't just be solved by arresting people.

"We must realize while our first responders continue to bear the brunt of this epidemic," Horrigan told reporters at a news conference at the Summit County Public Health Department, "this is long past moved into the public health crisis, and away from a public safety crisis that afflicts many communities across our state and across our country."

And Akron police chief James Nice, his department investigating what happened Tuesday and any link between the cases, says the epidemic will continue while the supply keeps coming in...which nothing that local police can stop...

"But as long as the supply is coming in so strong from Mexico, which the Akron Police Department is not able to do much from it coming into the country," Chief Nice says, "we're going to have problems with heroin as long as it coming into the country so easily."

The overdoses happened in the afternoon and evening hours in various parts of Akron.

A 44 year-old man died, and among those who survived were a mother and two adult daughters, who all overdosed at the same time.

Most survived thanks to the anti-heroin drug. Narcan, but police say that the heroin may have been laced with fentanyl...which is more resistant to Narcan.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, two more overdoses have been reported.

A 27-year old Akron man is the latest casualty of the war on heroin and fentanyl, but a casualty still alive andindicted by a federal grand jury on charges he supplied the fatal does of fentanyl that killed a drug user identified as "J.H." by the U.S. Attorney for Northern Ohio last September. Jurmaine Jeffries faces two counts in the indictment with an extra sentencing penalty because the drug overdose led to a death, said Acting U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon.

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(U.S. Attorney) An Akron man was indicted on federal charges for distributing fentanyl that caused the death of a person in last fall, said Carole Rendon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Jurmaine A. Jeffries, 27, was named in the two-count indictment. He is charged with distribution of fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. The indictment also seeks a sentencing enhancement because the fentanyl Jeffries sold resulted in the death on Sept. 16, 2015, of a person identified as J.H. in Akron, according to the indictment.

"We will continue to work to educate the public on the dangers of opioids and get help for those who want it," Rendon said. "We will also aggressively prosecute those who sell heroin and fentanyl, which have caused so much pain and death in our community."

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda K. Barr following an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

If convicted, the defendant's sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant's prior criminal records, if any, the Defendant's role in the offenses and the unique characteristics of the violations. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control spotlights drug OD's in Ohio -- in particular the epidemic of opiate abuse.

In just one year fentanyl deaths jumped from 84 -- to 502, and that number is from 2014. That makes Fentanyl more potent than smack.

In Summit County, the Department of Public Health says the agency already works together with other partners to deal with the growth of opiate abuse here.

Medical director Dr. Margo Erme says they'll go over the report to see what else can be done.

"We'll take some time to look over the suggestions, to see what we're already doing, what we can improve upon," Dr. Erme tells WAKR.net, "and what we may be able to initiate with our partners."

Dr. Erme says Summit County has a "strong community" dedicated to working on the abuse problem.

One project already underway is "Project Dawn", which provides opiate reversal mediation to users, friends and families of those at risk for overdoses.