Pubdate: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 Source: Asheville Citizen-Times (NC) Copyright: 2008 Asheville Citizen-Times Contact: http://www.citizen-times.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/863 Author: Jon Ostendorff Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise public figures or officials. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Fentanyl DANGERS FROM PAINKILLER FENTANYL LOOM IN WNC FLETCHER - A Henderson County man's arrest marks at least the second time in five months law enforcement in Western North Carolina filed murder charges following a fentanyl overdose death. The powerful prescription painkiller has been blamed in a surging number of overdose deaths nationwide. Henderson County investigators charged with [redacted] second-degree murder in the death of Justin Kane Anderson. [redacted] also is charged with possession with intent to sell or deliver fentanyl and sale or delivery of fentanyl. Anderson, 20, died July 20 of acute fentanyl toxicity. He was using a fentanyl patch, Henderson County Sheriff's Office Capt. Charles McDonald said Wednesday. Authorities believe seven other people in Henderson County died this year after overdosing on fentanyl, McDonald said Wednesday. "We don't normally see that with prescription drugs," he said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a report released in July estimated 1,000 people died nationwide from doses of fentanyl created in illegal laboratories in 2007. The drug is commonly given to cancer patients. Rise in Deaths Emergency room physicians have reported a rise in deaths related to abuse of fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin when taken intravenously, according to the government agency. The drug and others like it are a serious problem in WNC. A survey earlier this year by N.C. Healthy Schools found about 25 percent of WNC high school students said they have used prescription painkillers. Anderson's death came just months after an Erwin High student died in his sleep with a stolen fentanyl patch on each arm. The patches sell for $75-$100 on the street and the drug is so addictive that an illegal market is created almost instantaneously, McDonald said. Prosecutors in WNC are taking notice of the problem. District Attorney Michael Bonfoey, the prosecutor for the state's seven westernmost counties, won two manslaughter pleas stemming from fentanyl overdoses in 2006. The cases started as second-degree murder charges. Madison County District Attorney Jerry Wilson charged a couple was charged in May with second-degree murder following an overdose of a 28-year-old man. Bonfoey, discussing the issue in general terms, said the cases are hard to make. "It has to be the proximate cause of death," he said. "You have to prove that the person supplied that particular drug, and that particular drug caused the death." District Attorney Jeff Hunt, whose office will handle the charges in Henderson County, could not be reached on Wednesday. But McDonald said the prosecutor has been supportive. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake