Pubdate: Sat, 01 Jul 2006
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Section: Metro Detroit
Copyright: 2006 Detroit Free Press
Contact:  http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Author:  Jim Schaefer, Joe Swickard And Ben Schmitt Free Press Staff Writers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

MOST FENTANYL VICTIMS OLDER

Records Detail Deaths, Show Many Male, White

The victims of a powerful painkiller blamed in scores of deaths in 
metro Detroit were most often middle-age, most frequently men and 
typically white. It struck equally among those living in the suburbs 
and the city.

Records released Friday by the Wayne County Medical Examiner's office 
on 110 deaths related to the drug fentanyl from September 2005 to the 
beginning of June painted a more vivid picture of the victims, many 
of whom died when the drug was mixed with heroin or cocaine to 
produce a more intense high.

According to case summaries, autopsies and toxicology reports 
reviewed by the Free Press, the victims ranged in age from 19 to 60 
and lived in 21 communities, including Detroit. But more than half 
were between the ages of 41 and 55. And in 82 records where hometowns 
were clearly identifiable, as many people who died claimed homes in 
the suburbs as in the city.

White people accounted for two-thirds of those who died during the 
period. Of the 110, 75 were men.

The records, sought by the newspaper under the Freedom of Information 
Act, were incomplete: Many details, including names, addresses and 
other vital information, were removed by authorities, who claimed the 
release of those details would hamper ongoing criminal 
investigations. Hometowns were indicated in 82 of the case summaries, however.

The picture drawn from the documents is an accurate one, officials said.

"Drug abuse is an equal opportunity destroyer," Dr. Michele Reid, 
chairwoman of the Wayne County Fentanyl Work Group, said Friday. 
"This just goes to show you the general vulnerability of the population."

Fentanyl deaths have swept several cities across the nation this 
year. In Wayne County alone, authorities have blamed at least 130 
deaths on the drug since the beginning of 2005.

The records released Friday accounted for fewer deaths because some 
cases were not released pending lab reports. The 110 deaths reviewed 
by the Free Press also did not include fentanyl-related suicides or 
natural deaths where the drug showed up in testing but was taken for 
legitimate medical uses.

The victims in the cases reviewed died from injecting, snorting and 
smoking fentanyl or using fentanyl with other drugs. A few ate a gel 
containing the drug from patches typically prescribed to give 
regulated doses of the painkiller through the skin.

The records provided a glimpse of the ways in which the drug claimed 
its victims. Bodies were found on floors, on stairways and on 
porches; they were found sitting on toilets. Frequently, they were 
found frothing from the mouth and nose.

Several victims were found with underwear around their ankles after 
apparently injecting themselves in the groin. Two were found dumped 
along city streets and one on a freeway service drive. Many were 
found dead in bed.

In one case in April, three young users were found dead together in a 
car in Detroit. Two of them apparently died while having sex in the front seat.

All told, fentanyl played a role in the deaths of 71 white people, 38 
African Americans and one Hispanic. Male victims outnumbered women 75 to 35.

While authorities made public warnings about fentanyl this May, 
numbers began spiking last November, when deaths associated with the 
drug jumped to 16 from seven a month earlier. The death toll ran in 
double digits through February, dropped in March and April, and 
soared to 24, the peak month, in May.

But as early as January, the medical examiner's office was hearing concerns.

One report details how the daughter of a 52-year-old woman who 
overdosed called shortly after her mother's death and said two more 
drug users in their neighborhood had died. The document does not 
indicate whether the official who took that call shared the information.

Still, Reid said Friday, "there wasn't enough evidence to go public 
with it any earlier. There just was not a critical mass before May."

That's when local officials warned that fentanyl was showing up in 
dangerous quantities, mixed with heroin and cocaine.

Police said dealers have capitalized on the scourge, branding their 
goods in packages named Drop Dead and Suicide Packets.

At least one user wasn't scared by the warnings: Records show a 
27-year-old Detroiter discussed with his girlfriend a "new mix of 
drugs and that it was killing people in the Detroit area." He was 
dead within hours.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman