fentanyl

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Massive Fentanyl Bust Is Largest in US History

254 pounds of the synthetic opioid seized

(Newser) - US Customs and Border Protection officials announced Thursday their biggest fentanyl bust ever, saying they captured nearly 254 pounds of the deadly synthetic opioid from a secret compartment inside a load of Mexican produce heading into Arizona, the AP reports. The drug was found hidden Saturday morning in a compartment...

1 Dead, 12 Hospitalized After Calif. 'Mass Overdose'

Police believe fentanyl is to blame

(Newser) - The powerful opioid fentanyl is believed to have caused what police in Chico, Calif., are calling a "mass casualty incident" Saturday morning. Authorities say one person died and another 12 were hospitalized after a mass overdose. Chico Fire Department Chief Steve Standridge says every ambulance in the city was...

Inmate Found Hanged in Cell After Execution Called Off

Nevada inmate Scott Dozier said he had been 'very clear' about desire to be executed

(Newser) - A twice-convicted murderer who had repeatedly said he wanted to die by lethal injection was found dead in his death-row prison cell in Nevada from an apparent hanging, officials said Saturday. Scott Raymond Dozier, 48, was found unresponsive in his solo cell at the state's maximum-security prison in Ely,...

Fentanyl Now the Deadliest Drug in the US

It overtakes heroin on ranking of fatal overdoses

(Newser) - Fentanyl killed 18,335 people in the US in 2016—the most of any drug, making the synthetic opioid the deadliest drug in America. Health officials announced the new ranking of overdose deaths from 2016, the most recent year for which data is available, on Wednesday. It's fentanyl's...

Even 'Dark Web' Dealers Refuse to Sell This Drug

Some sellers say fentanyl is just too dangerous

(Newser) - Fentanyl suppliers on the so-called "dark web" are delisting the drug because it's just too dangerous—and tends to attract police attention, the Guardian reports. If true, the move places fentanyl alongside explosives and certain firearms that are too risky for some purveyors to sell. "There are...

Super-Potent Opioid Wins FDA Approval

Dsuvia will be tightly controlled, the FDA promises

(Newser) - It's called Dsuvia, and the potency of this opioid is hard to fathom: It's up to 1,000 times stronger than morphine and up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl, reports USA Today . Despite the worries of critics that it will add to the nation's opioid problem,...

Record-Breaking Drug OD Deaths in US Last Year

200 people died per day in US in 2017, per the DEA

(Newser) - Drug overdose deaths hit the highest level ever recorded in the US last year, with an estimated 200 people dying per day, according to a report by the DEA. Most of that was the result of a record number of opioid-related deaths. Preliminary figures show more than 72,000 people...

Addict Allegedly Stole Dying Daughter's Opioids

Carol Ballweg confessed after tip from hospice staff: cops

(Newser) - Police in Missouri say a dying woman didn't get the oxycodone and fentanyl she was prescribed because her mother stole the drugs to feed her opioid addiction. Carol Ballweg—charged with abusing a vulnerable person and stealing a controlled substance—allegedly admitted to stealing painkillers from her 20-year-old daughter,...

After Inmate Likely ODs, 27 Prison Workers Fall Ill

Ohio prison officials believe fentanyl may be to blame

(Newser) - Four nurses, 23 prison guards, and an inmate were sickened Wednesday at Ross Correctional Institute in Ohio, and officials believe the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl may be to blame, CNN reports. The incident began around 9am when an inmate showed signs of a possible drug overdose; 29 people ended up...

Nebraska Uses Fentanyl to Kill Prisoner, a First

Carey Dean Moore was put to death Tuesday

(Newser) - For the first time, fentanyl has been used in the execution of a US prisoner. Carey Dean Moore was put to death via lethal injection at the Nebraska State Penitentiary Tuesday morning using a previously untested combination of four drugs: fentanyl citrate, the powerful synthetic opioid blamed for deadly overdoses...

Cop: Police Chief Who OD'd Took Drugs From Evidence Room

Neighboring police agency says James Hughes Jr. lifted drugs from evidence room

(Newser) - An Ohio police chief died in May , and an autopsy released last month said he died from "acute intoxication by fentanyl." Now officials say they think they know how James Hughes Jr. got his hands on the deadly drug: They believe he took it from the Kirkersville Police...

Son of Greek Billionaire Dead in US. Fentanyl Is Blamed

Socrates S. Kokkalis, 34, was found in Cleveland hotel

(Newser) - The youngest son of a Greek billionaire has died in Ohio of a suspected overdose involving fentanyl. Socrates S. Kokkalis, 34, was found in Cleveland's downtown Marriott Hotel around 2:45pm Saturday, about 12 hours after he's believed to have died. Though an official cause of death is...

Critics Blast Nevada's Plan to Execute Inmate With Fentanyl

It's a US first

(Newser) - Critics are warning about the "very real risk of a botched execution" in what is to be the first US case of capital punishment using fentanyl. With manufacturers unwilling to sell any drugs to be used in executions, Nevada's Department of Corrections quietly purchased small doses of fentanyl...

What Cops Found in Secret Compartment Could've Killed 26M

It was 118 pounds of fentanyl, worth $20M

(Newser) - Suspicious of a semi-truck driving on the shoulder of I-80, Nebraska State Patrol troopers searched the vehicle and, in so doing, made the largest fentanyl bust in the state's history. In a secret compartment in the truck, stopped near Kearney on April 26, authorities say they found 118 pounds...

Prince Heirs Blame Hospital, Pharmacists for Death

Lawsuit claims overdose wasn't properly treated

(Newser) - Prince's heirs have sued Walgreens and the Illinois hospital that treated the music superstar after he suffered from an opioid overdose, alleging that a doctor and various pharmacists failed to provide Prince with reasonable care, contributing to his death. The wrongful-death lawsuit alleges a doctor and pharmacist at Trinity...

Report: Prince Had 'Exceedingly High' Level of Drug in His System

Experts say it is obvious that fentanyl killed him

(Newser) - A toxicology report from Prince's autopsy obtained Monday by the AP shows he had what multiple experts called an "exceedingly high" concentration of fentanyl in his body when he died. Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate...

White House: Death Penalty Will Be Part of Opioid Response

But trafficking in fentanyl won't be a capital crime

(Newser) - The White House has rolled out the "more nuanced" response to the opioid crisis it promised after President Trump talked about executing drug dealers earlier this month. The revised plan White House officials discussed Sunday still involves the death penalty, but officials say they don't plan to make...

Prosecutors Scramble to Sell Seized Bitcoin

Utah suspect's cache has exploded in value

(Newser) - US attorneys in Utah prosecuting a multimillion-dollar opioid drug ring are moving quickly to sell seized bitcoin that has exploded in value to about $8.5 million since the alleged ringleader's arrest a year ago. The US Attorney's Office for Utah cites the digital currency's volatility in...

Father and Son Overdose at Brooklyn Birthday Party

A mix of heroin and fentanyl brings tragedy to a family gathering

(Newser) - Tragedy struck a Brooklyn family over the weekend when a father and son died of drug overdoses at a birthday party. Police say Joseph Andrade, 44, and his son Carlos, 22, told family members they were stepping outside for a cigarette when in actuality they were going to snort a...

Pharma Billionaire Allegedly Paid Doctors to Push Fentanyl

Insys founder faces charges including bribery, racketeering

(Newser) - Sarah Fuller died a little more than a year after she was prescribed a fentanyl spray for her chronic neck and back pain, but her mom doesn't just blame the opioid. She points the finger at "a drug company who couldn't care less about a human life....

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