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Use of opioid overdose antidote by laypersons rose 43% from 2020 to 2022, study finds

CNN — 

After years of continuously rising opioid overdoses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that overdose deaths decreased 3% in 2023, the first annual decrease since 2018. A new study shows how the increased administration of naloxone by non-medical laypersons – or bystanders with little to no medical training – could be one factor contributing to this decline.

Naloxone, best known by the brand name Narcan, became available over the counter last fall. 

Making naloxone, a drug used to reverse opioid overdose that’s commonly known as Narcan, more widely available has been part of concentrated efforts to increase layperson intervention.

The new study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open, says that from June 2020 to June 2022, emergency medical services reported 744,078 patients receiving naloxone across the US. The researchers found that EMS-documented naloxone administration rates fell 6.1% in this period, but the percentage of people who got naloxone from a layperson before EMS arrival increased 43.5%.

Continue reading “Use of opioid overdose antidote by laypersons rose 43% from 2020 to 2022, study finds”

Ayden man faces decade behind bars for trafficking fentanyl, fined heavily

EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA — An Ayden man was sentenced to the NC Department of Adult Corrections after pleading guilty to trafficking fentanyl, according to District Attorney Scott Thomas.

Marvin Murphy (Photo: State of North Carolina p General Court of Justice)

41-year-old Marvin Murphy was sentenced to a serve 7.5 to 10 years behind bars. In addition, Murphy was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.

Back in the summer of 2022, Morehead City and Carteret County detectives conducted controlled undercover buys from Murphy. This included the purchase of what was believed to be heroin for a total of $1,000 in marked cash. Murphy was later arrested after officials obtained warrants.

Testing by the NC State Crime Lab confirmed the substance was 27.99 grams of fentanyl. Officials say it was just under the highest-level trafficking weight.

The Morehead City Police Department and Carteret County Sheriff’s Office was the investigatory agencies. Assistant District Attorney David Spence prosecuted the case for the state and Superior Court Judge William Bland presided over the matter.

Social Media Fentanyl Dealer and Blood Gang Member Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Read the orignal article on the US Attorney’s Office Eastern District website.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Raleigh fentanyl dealer who used social media platforms to advertise his product was sentenced to 144 months in prison, which includes an enhancement for the defendant’s attempts to intimidate government witnesses. On April 25, 2024, Axel Rodriguez a/k/a “Flash,” age 23, pled guilty to conspiracy and trafficking of fentanyl.

“Drug traffickers are increasingly pushing deadly fake pills through social media.  They’ve learned they don’t need to stand on street corners when they can reach kids on their smart phones,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley. “Counterfeit Oxycontin, Percocet, and Xanax sold on social media are driving addiction and overdose death. It’s time to get the word out and warn kids of the risks.”

According to court documents and other information presented in court, in March 2023, Rodriguez became the subject of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Raleigh Police Department (RPD) investigation after he was identified as selling fentanyl in the Raleigh area using his Instagram account. Rodriguez regularly used his Instagram account to post pictures of the pills he was selling, as well as guns. Rodriguez would advertise that he was able to sell “K packs” of fentanyl pills, which is slang for 1,000 pills. Investigators reviewed Rodriguez’s Instagram account and observed numerous posts of firearms, gang members with firearms, and fentanyl pills for sale.

The investigation revealed Rodriguez was obtaining thousands of pills at a time and then distributing them in the Raleigh area. Between March and May of 2023, investigators conducted multiple controlled purchases of blue pills marked “M-30” from Rodriguez. For example, on March 13, 2023, investigators purchased 25 pills marked “M30.” The confidential informant reported that he observed four firearms in Rodriguez’s vehicle during that transaction. The pills tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.

Continue reading “Social Media Fentanyl Dealer and Blood Gang Member Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison”

Atlantic Beach man sentenced to 5 years for fentanyl-related death

An Atlantic Beach man has pled guilty to Death by Distribution of Fentanyl related to the overdose death of a 19-year-old.

Hayden James Hunter, 28, received an active sentence of 58-82 months in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.

Hunter was arrested on May 3, 2023, and charged with second-degree murder at the time.

The charge is related to the distribution of fentanyl, which resulted in the overdose death of Krista Olivia Taylor, 19, of Morehead City, on Oct. 16, 2022, per authorities.

Morehead City authorities say that during a narcotics investigation by these two agencies, Hunter was determined to be the source of fentanyl distribution within the community. As a result of that investigation, Hunter received additional charges by Morehead City Police: Sell of Schedule I Controlled Substance, Deliver of Schedule I Controlled Substance, Manufacturing of a Schedule I Controlled Substance and Conspiracy to Sell and Deliver a Schedule I Controlled Substance.

At the time of his arrest, Hunter was found to be in possession of heroin, methamphetamine and a firearm. Based on this evidence, the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office filed additional charges: Intent to Manufacture, Sell and Deliver Heroin and Possession with the Intent to Manufacture, Sell and Deliver Methamphetamine.

Harnett County Naloxone in Schools Policy

Fentvic is tracking policy for Naloxone in schools across the state. To make the policies easier to find, a table has been added to this page. Harnett County Schools has been added to the table.

If you have information on a county not recorded in the table, please share the URL with us by sending it to naloxone@fentvic.org.

Harnett County Schools Naloxone Policy

Wake County Naloxone in Schools Policy

Fentvic is tracking policy for Naloxone in schools across the state. To make the policies easier to find, a table has been added to this page. Wake County Schools has been added to the table.

If you have information on a county not recorded in the table, please share the URL with us by sending it to naloxone@fentvic.org.

Wake County Naloxone in Schools Policy

Fentvic Meetup #15 CONCORD, Cabarrus County & Adjacent NC Counties

Fentvic Meetup #15 (open to the public)
Concord, Cabarus County & Adjacent NC Counties
Saturday, Ocotber 5, 2024, 2:00-4:00 pm

DateSaturday, Ocotber 5, 2024, 2:00-4:00 pm
LocationLes Myers Park
Paul Shepherd Bldg
338 Lawndale Avenue SE
Concord NC 28025
Download Press Release PDF
Contacts
  • Barb Walsh, Executive Director, 919-614-3830
    barb@fentvic.org. website:  www.fentvic.org
    Fentanyl Victims Network of NC (fentvic.org), 501(c)(3) EIN 88-3921380 
  • Local Coordinator:  Beth Abernathy, 704-699-5291, abernathye@gmail.com
    Chapter Director, Forgotten Victims of North Carolina
Purpose
  1. Prevention, Education, Naloxone Distribution, SAVE LIVES!
  2. NC Fentanyl Victim Families educational advocacy and networking event
  3. Spark public safety conversations within communities about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, particularly counterfeit pressed pills (Adderall, Xanax, Percocet), and access to life-saving naloxone in schools and the community
  4. Tell Fentanyl Victim Stories!

After fentanyl killed a Candler woman, sheriff’s investigators cleared the wrong man. Months later, an Iowa man was dead

Read the original article on the Asheville Watchdog website.

Authorities mistook man with same last name as supplier, but never followed up after their error

A Candler woman’s overdose death three years ago led investigators to a North Carolina dealer peddling illegal drugs through the mail to addicts nationwide.

Rachel Scillitani, 29, died of a fentanyl overdose in her Candler apartment in May 2021. Seven months later, Danny Birch Jr, of Dubuque, Iowa, was dead of drugs from the same supplier suspected in Scillitani’s death. // Photos provided by the Scillitani and Birch families

But the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office investigated the wrong man and failed to pursue leads that could have put James Adam Earwood out of business, according to federal court testimony. Seven months later, in December 2021, an Iowa man died from fentanyl and heroin he bought from Earwood, who boasted of his “first confirmed kill” as evidence of his drugs’ potency.

Earwood of Rutherfordton had been identified as a likely supplier of the fentanyl that killed Rachel Scillitani, 29, in her Candler apartment in May 2021. But Buncombe sheriff’s detectives interviewed and cleared another man with the same last name, Special Agent Bryce Husak of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service testified at an April federal court hearing.

“It is your testimony today that they were actually investigating the wrong Adam Earwood?” a prosecutor asked.

“Correct,” Husak responded.

There was no follow-up investigation of the right Earwood or effort to determine his whereabouts around the time Scillitani bought the fentanyl and died, nor were records on a payment app she used to buy drugs subpoenaed, the agent testified.

Continue reading “After fentanyl killed a Candler woman, sheriff’s investigators cleared the wrong man. Months later, an Iowa man was dead”
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