Heroin Epidemic Continues To Surge; Antidote More Difficult To Buy
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A warning from Baltimore health officials--heroin is getting even more deadly. It's now being laced with a powerful painkiller. Making matters worse, the antidote is harder than ever to get.
Christie Ileto explains how big the problem is becoming.
It's a two part problem--heroin overdoses are surging in Baltimore, while the life saving antidote is doubling in price.
Heroin kills. Toni Torsch knows that firsthand. The Perry Hall mother lost her 24-year-old son, Daniel, to an accidental overdose.
"Devastating. The most dangerous drug there is. The most dangerous in addiction," Torsch said.
The once hidden epidemic has now become a wave of heroin overdoses now laced with the potent painkiller fentanyl, killing dozens of Baltimore residents.
"It stops someone's breathing. Within just a couple minutes of stopping breathing, a person experiences brain damage, brain death, and then, death," said Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City Heath Commissioner.
In the first quarter of this year, 39 city deaths have been linked to fentanyl laced heroin--a 178 percent increase from this time last year. Even Governor Hogan spoke out in an exclusive interview with WJZ:
"We're going to declare a state of emergency," he said.
But tackling the surge in overdoses is only compounded by the rising price of the antidote, naloxone.
"When the manufacturer apparently found out that the drug was in demand, they upped the price," Congressman Elijah Cummings said.
What used to run $15 a dose has nearly tripled. Rep. Cummings wants Maryland's attorney general to step in.
"Make sure that we are getting a fair price for that drug," he said.
Ileto: "Does that bother you?"
Torsch: "Furious. Infuriating."
Torsch helped lobby for greater access in Maryland to the life saving antidote.
"We used to give out the kit with the drug, but we can't afford it right now," she said. "It's not the magic wand. We know that. But you have to save their life before we can change it."
State numbers show more than 6,300 people know how to use the life saving antidote.
There were 71 fentanyl related deaths in Baltimore last year--the most in the state. Baltimore County had 36.