NEWS

Laced heroin: 1 dead, many treated in So. Ind

Justin Sayers
@_JustinSayers
  • Officials responded to 14 overdoses late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
  • A 52-year-old woman from North Vernon was given a heroin antidote but later died at the hospital.
  • Jennings County Sheriff's Department arrested four of the patients and charged them with drug-related crimes.
  • On Sunday, Ohio officials issued alert after at least 30 drug-related emergency room visits were reported in a 24-hour span

Authorities are investigating after one person died and more than 10 others overdosed Tuesday evening in Southern Indiana after using what officials believe was heroin laced with fentanyl.

Narcan is used in many hospital emergency rooms to address patients specifically affected by opiate overdoses. The drug can be administered via IV, needle, or by nasal vapor. Nasal vapor has become the quickets and most common method for addressing heroin overdoses, due to poor veins in the victims and the urgency of their conditions. Feb. 3, 2014

The outbreak in Jennings and Jackson counties, roughly 50 miles north of Louisville along Interstate 65, comes a little more than a week after 26 people overdosed in a four-hour span in Huntington, W.Va., on what police believe was also heroin laced with fentanyl.

And in Ohio on Sunday, officials issued an alert after at least 30 drug-related emergency room visits were reported in a 24-hour span, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Many of the patients did not respond to naloxone — a medication that can reverse an overdose — and authorities believed that was a result of heroin mixed with deadly opioids, including fentanyl, a powerful painkiller typically used to treat patients after surgery.

The painkiller is often mixed with heroin, which amplifies the drug's potency and potential dangers. Van Ingram, executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, has said it is up to 50 times more potent than heroin.

In Indiana, officials responded to 14 overdoses late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, according to the Jennings County Sheriff's Department and Seymour Police.

The police in Seymour, which is in Jackson County, said they responded to four cases at two residences.

In Jennings County, sheriff deputies responded to two patients in Center Township, two in Geneva Township and five in Spencer Township.

Naloxone was administered to all but one of the patients. A 52-year-old woman from North Vernon, Ind., was given the drug but was not breathing, according to the Jennings Sheriff's Department. After deputies performed CPR, she was transported to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

The Jennings County Sheriff's Department arrested and charged four of the patients: Jarvie Williams III, 23, of North Vernon; Damon Clark, 25, of North Vernon; Caleb Barton, 18, of North Vernon; and Devin Fear, 21, of North Vernon.

All four were charged with possession of a controlled substance, the department said. Williams was additionally charged with possession of a syringe and possession of drug paraphernalia, while Clark was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Michael Purvis, 34, of Seymour, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of dealing in a controlled substance, according to a Facebook post by the Seymour Police. A police spokesman said it was determined he purchased the drug and provided it to two others who overdosed.

The Jennings County Sheriff's Department treated three juveniles, ages 16 and 17. They were transported to St. Vincent Jennings Hospital and later released.

The Jennings County Sheriff's Department said in a release that all 10 of its cases involved either heroin and/or fentanyl. The Seymour Police initially posted a warning on Facebook that heroin laced with fentanyl was causing a string of overdoses in the Jennings County area.

Authorities from both departments said they are still trying to determine the source of the drugs.

In March 2015, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a nationwide alert on fentanyl as a threat to health and public safety. It said its abuse has coincided with the increase in heroin use.

Louisville ranked No. 6 in the nation in the most recent study of illegal fentanyl seizures, according to the DEA. The Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy attributed 56 fatal overdoses in Jefferson County last year to either fentanyl or its mixture with heroin, accounting for 20 percent of the county's state-leading 268 overdose deaths.

A Louisville Metro Police lieutenant said in February that police are concerned about heroin laced with fentanyl because users are unaware of the potency of the drug. The drug can be found in lollipop form, in a patch some put on the skin, or in a liquid that users hide in e-cigarettes.

On Wednesday, an LMPD spokesman deferred questions about a potential recent spike in fentanyl to the state forensic lab because drug identification testing results typically take up to three months. The Kentucky State Police's Jefferson Lab did not immediately respond to an email requesting information.

Reporter Justin Sayers can be reached at 502-582-4252 or jsayers@gannett.com.