Deaths may be tied to toxic street drugs across Middle Georgia

Toxic street drugs have been reported in central and south Georgia, and some deaths could be tied to the drugs, health officials say.

Dozens of people have been hospitalized, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Medical officials in Macon are set to address the issue at a 2 p.m. news conference.

Over a 48-hour period, overdoses have been reported in Macon, Warner Robins, Centerville, Perry and Albany. The drugs may also be circulating in other parts of Georgia.

Patients have been unconscious or unresponsive, with trouble breathing or having stopped breathing. Some of them have had to be placed on ventilators and required large doses of a medicine called naloxone to block the drug’s effects.

People who bought the yellow pills believed them to the opioid Percocet. Officials are working to identify the potentially lethal substance within the pills, according to Georgia public health officials.

A drug overdose death was reported in Macon on Sunday, and a death Monday could also be drug-related, said Lonnie Miley, chief deputy coroner for Bibb County. However, toxicology reports can take three or four months to return, so it’s not clear what specific drugs were used.

“I can’t say what it’s contributed to, but I think we have had more than usual overdoses without a doubt,” Miley said.

It’s unclear whether the increase is due to a specific drug, increased drug use or more potent drugs, he said. The No. 1 cause of death for Americans younger than 50 is drug overdose, according to a New York Times report.

Drug overdose deaths showed the largest increase to date from 2015 to 2016, increasing by almost 19 percent, according to preliminary data compiled by the Times. The deaths spiked from 52,404 to 59,000.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Deaths may be tied to toxic street drugs across Middle Georgia."