drug overdose

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Big Drop in OD Deaths: 'This Has Not Happened by Accident'

Preliminary data from CDC shows 10% decrease in overdose deaths in 12-month span ending in April

(Newser) - Partly due to fentanyl rampaging through the narcotics pipeline, the United States has seen a depressingly high death count from drug overdoses in recent years. Now, however, signs of improvement: According to preliminary data from the states released in August by the CDC , there was a 10% drop in that...

Prison Mail Worker Opened Letter, Was Dead Within Hours

Letter was laced with drugs, though it's not clear what caused his death

(Newser) - A federal prison inmate and two other people were charged Tuesday with conspiring to mail drugs to a penitentiary in California where a mailroom supervisor died this month after opening a letter that prosecutors said was laced with fentanyl and other substances, the AP reports. According to prosecutors, Jamar Jones,...

Doctors Charged in Perry's Death Mocked Him in Texts

Actor's personal assistant and an alleged dealer known as the 'Ketamine Queen' also charged

(Newser) - Authorities have charged five people in last year's fatal overdose of Matthew Perry —including his personal assistant and two doctors, reports the Washington Post . Perry died of a ketamine overdose last year at the age of 54, and authorities have been investigating the source of the drug. The...

In Baltimore, Black Men in 50s to 70s Hit Hardest by Drugs
In Baltimore, Older Black Men
Are a 'Lost Generation'
investigation
Jun 9, 2024 8:00 AM CDT

In Baltimore, Older Black Men Are a 'Lost Generation'

Drug deaths are taking a huge toll among those from the mid-50s to early 70s

(Newser) - Baltimore is undergoing an epidemic of fatal drug overdoses , and one group there is being hit hardest: Older Black men. Some sobering statistics: They are more likely to die of drug overdoses than cancer. More Black men between their mid-50s to early 70s have died from overdoses than COVID during...

Mass Overdoses Linked to Deadly New Drug in the Supply

Dangerous animal tranquilizer medetomidine showing up in street drugs in numerous states

(Newser) - A dangerous chemical sedative is being added to fentanyl and other street drugs, triggering mass overdose events in cities including Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Toronto. "The numbers reported out of Philadelphia were 160 hospitalizations over a three- or four-day period," the director of NPS Discovery, a group that...

Baltimore's Fatal Overdose Problem Shocked Baltimore
NYC and Crack.
Appalachia and Pills.
Now, Baltimore
investigation
May 27, 2024 12:12 PM CDT

NYC and Crack. Appalachia and Pills. Now, Baltimore

The New York Times and Baltimore Banner reveal city's fentanyl problem

(Newser) - "These days, heroin is rarely found" in Baltimore. If that has you thinking that the city has had a dramatic turnaround since the days of the Wire, you'd be mistaken. The New York Times and Baltimore Banner's in-depth investigation has found that Baltimore has become the fatal...

It's a Rare Something to Celebrate Amid Fentanyl Crisis

Overdose deaths decline for first time since 2018

(Newser) - There's a glimmer of hope in the ongoing drug crisis powered by fentanyl. Overdose deaths declined in 2023 for the first time in five years, though the drop was only slight, according to CDC estimates. There were 107,500 deaths, down 3% from 111,029 in 2022, preliminary data...

Life Expectancy Is on the Rise Again, With Caveats

COVID and drug overdoses still pose an issue, per the CDC

(Newser) - Life expectancy in the United States is on the upswing once again, its first positive motion in two years. NPR reports on new CDC stats that show in 2022, the average came in at 77.5 years, an increase from the 76.4 years set in 2021. But both COVID...

Cops: Alleged Husband Killer May Have Learned From Mom

Kouri Richins's mother, Lisa Darden, also had a partner die from overdose, writes detective

(Newser) - Accused of altering a life insurance policy before murdering her husband with a dose of fentanyl bought from a housekeeper , then selling a book about grief , Kouri Richins may not have acted alone, according to police. In a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit, a detective describes a long-ago incident involving...

More Drug ODs Now Come From Smoking, Not Injecting
More Overdoses Now Come
From Smoking, Not Injecting
new study
Feb 16, 2024 11:53 AM CST

More Overdoses Now Come From Smoking, Not Injecting

CDC flags the drug stat, which is linked to the rise of fentanyl use

(Newser) - A new CDC report flags a notable stat related to the rising use of fentanyl: For the first time, more fatal overdoses come from smoking drugs than injecting them.
  • From early 2020 to late 2022, smoking overdose deaths surged 74% while injection overdose deaths fell 29%, reports the AP .
  • Overall,
...

Early Toxicology Reports May Shed Light on 3 KC Fans' Death

Source tells TMZ that the men allegedly showed traces of coke, fentanyl; cops await fuller tests

(Newser) - Three friends and fellow fans of the Kansas City Chiefs who were found dead outside a residence in the Missouri city were said by the homeowner to have frozen to death. Now, early toxicology results suggest there may be more to the story. Sources tell TMZ that preliminary reports have...

Well-Known Adult Film Star Found Dead With Boyfriend

Police believe the couple overdosed

(Newser) - Police called to perform a welfare check at a home in Moore, Oklahoma, on Wednesday morning found an adult film star and her boyfriend dead. Causes of death have not yet been determined for Jesse Jane and Brett Hasenmueller, but police believe drug overdoses are to blame, Fox 25 reports....

Dana Carvey on Grief: 'Make Sure That You Keep Moving'

Comedian returns to his podcast 2 months after son's death, talks about riding the 'pain train'

(Newser) - It's been two months since Dex Carvey, the 32-year-old son of Dana Carvey and his wife, Paula Zwagerman, lost his life in an accidental drug overdose. Now, the former Saturday Night Live comedian is opening up about his grief, shedding some light on the "private journey" he and...

The Opioid Crisis Is Crossing Over to Something Darker

Experts struggle to treat multi-drug use as opioid users turn to meth and other stimulants

(Newser) - The opioid epidemic has become an uphill battle with the rise of fentanyl on the streets, but experts are seeing an even scarier trend. The New York Times reports that people addicted to drugs are more likely to use multiple substances now, combining a cocktail of uppers and downers that...

More Pregnant, Postpartum Women Dying of Overdoses
More Pregnant, Postpartum
Women Dying of Overdoses
new study
Nov 24, 2023 10:10 AM CST

More Pregnant, Postpartum Women Dying of Overdoses

Study finds ratio jumped between 2018 and 2021

(Newser) - A January study found mortality rates for pregnant women and new mothers worsened during the pandemic, and a new study zeroes in on one such cause: overdoses. Researchers with the National Institute on Drug Abuse reviewed data on more than 17,000 deaths over the 2018 to 2021 period; STAT...

Ohio Woman Is Alleged Serial Killer
Serial Killer Suspect
Pleads Not Guilty
updated
Oct 30, 2023 4:38 PM CDT

Serial Killer Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

Rebecca Auborn is accused of drugging 5 men in Ohio, 4 of whom died

(Newser) - An Ohio woman who police say fatally drugged four men pleaded not guilty to 28 charges at an arraignment Monday and will be held in jail awaiting trial after waiving her chance for bond. Rebecca Auborn's pleas were entered through her attorney, Mark Hunt, the Columbus Dispatch reports. Investigators...

When Drug Users Fear They'll Die Alone, They Call Her
She Has Learned What a
Fatal Overdose Sounds Like
longform
Sep 23, 2023 5:30 AM CDT

She Has Learned What a Fatal Overdose Sounds Like

Meet an operator for Never Use Alone

(Newser) - Jessica Blanchard has become an expert in knowing when an overdose is likely to be fatal—all by listening to the person on the other end of the phone line. Writing for Slate , Mary Harris and Aymann Ismail explain Blanchard is an operator for Never Use Alone. It's a...

Dealer Pleads Guilty in Death of Wire Star
Dealer Gets 10 Years
in Death of Wire Star
UPDATED
Aug 19, 2023 9:03 AM CDT

Dealer Gets 10 Years in Death of Wire Star

Irvin Cartagena supplied fentanyl-laced heroin that killed Michael K. Williams

(Newser) - The man who sold Michael K. Williams the drugs that killed him has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. The actor, best known for his roles in The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, died after taking fentanyl-laced heroin he bought from Irvin Cartagena in Brooklyn on Sept. 5, 2021....

Trial to Begin in Dentist's 'Depraved Heart' Murder Case

James Ryan is accused of supplying his young girlfriend with anesthesia drugs

(Newser) - Jury selection begins Monday in a high-profile murder case in Maryland involving a dentist accused of supplying his girlfriend with anesthesia drugs he took from his office, reports the Washington Post . Defense lawyers for James Ryan, now 50, will argue that he didn't kill 25-year-old Sarah Harris but that...

Elderly Drug Dealer Sentenced in Wire Actor's Death

72-year-old got 2.5 years in prison

(Newser) - One of the men arrested in the overdose death of The Wire actor Michael K. Williams was on Tuesday sentenced to two and a half years behind bars. Carlos Macci, 72, pleaded guilty in April to possessing and distributing narcotics, NBC News reports. "I would like to say, your...

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