Overdoses From Pain Pills Laced With Drug Worry Tennessee Police, Doctors

Pain relief pills laced with a dangerous drug are being blamed for overdose deaths in Tennessee. And in a state where police and doctors are already confronting an epidemic of fatal overdoses, they say these deceptive drugs are especially alarming.

Officials said Monday that pills laced with
fentanyl
are being sold as Percocet or Xanax
. The powerful drug — 30 times stronger than heroin — can stop someone’s breathing.

It’s been showing up in lab tests at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

First it was heroin spiked with fentanyl. Then came a surprise for TBI Director Mark Gwynn.

“And then when we got the call …  about these pills, it was just something nobody had ever seen before and didn’t think about,” he said.

The bogus pills have cropped up
in several towns, including
Winchester, near the Alabama border. Police Chief Dennis Young says a 24-year-old man died of an overdose while clutching a bag of 31 of these pills — and one that was half eaten.

“These kids don’t know what they’re taking. They think they’re taking Percoset. One half of one pill killed a young man in my community,” he said. “And anybody that sells this poison that they know is killing their people: they’re violent. In my opinion, they’re serial killers. Maybe that’s a little harsh, but that’s my opinion from a local perspective.”

A
TBI news release counts about two dozen cases of imposter pills in recent months, including:

• A May 2015 traffic stop that found 30mg
  pills stamped as oxycodone
   but found to c
  ontain fentanyl;
• A January search of a home in Cookeville that found 300 pills stamped with Percocet markings but containing fentanyl.

Overdose Deaths Rise

With more than 1,200 fatal overdoses in 2014, Tennessee ranks fourth in the nation, with such deaths now outpacing car crashes. Officials estimate 200,000 Tennesseans had improper prescriptions last year, with at least 50,000 people addicted.

“We have not seen a decrease in deaths, and we are concerned that these illicit pills may be part of the problem,” said David Reagan, chief medical officer for the state.

Lawmakers are considering more prison time for repeat drug traffickers and renewal of the state’s
prescription monitoring database. In the short-term, TBI agents will carry 
naloxone
 anti-overdose injections in case they need them in the field.