DA Alarmed Over Spike in Fatal Overdoses
Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Mike Duggan from Wicked Sober issued an important call to action in response to a drastic increase in overdose deaths in Middlesex County. Since March 1, 2016 State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office have responded to over 33 fatal overdoses.
This year there has been a dangerous spike in deaths and non-fatal overdoses in Middlesex County. As of April 7, 2016 State Police Detectives have responded to 65 fatal overdose deaths, 45 of those have been attributed to heroin. In 2012, there were 65 total overdose deaths over the entire year.
Based on the combined data from the six largest private EMS Companies in the County, over the last 32 days they have administered 244 Narcan interventions. This is an average of 7.6 reversals a day. This conservative estimate gives a glimpse into the severity of the problem and is not necessarily inclusive of all Narcan doses administered by police, fire, or other reversals that may be administered by friends and family.
On the verge of this weekend, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Wicked Sober are teaming up with law enforcement, partners in healthcare and service providers in the community to issue a call to action. Wicked Sober has agreed to increase their staff levels for this weekend and numerous community partners have agreed to make themselves available to provide resources for individuals suffering from addiction and for their loved ones.
Partner Agencies Include:
Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse
Substance Abuse Helpline (800) 327-5050
Online: http://helpline-online.com/
FA- Families Anonymous
Telephone: 800-736-9805
Online: www.familiesanonymous.org
Learn to Cope
4 Court Street
Suite 110
Taunton, MA 02780
Telephone: 508-738-5148
Online: http://learn2cope.org/
Lowell House Inc.
555 Merrimack Street
Lowell, MA 01854
Telephone: 978-459-8656
Online: http://lowellhouseinc.org/
Middlesex Recovery
20 Tower Office Park
Woburn, MA 01801
Telephone: 781-305-5500
Online: middlesexrecovery.com
Wicked Sober
Telephone: 855-953-7627
Online: http://wickedsober.com/
As of April 7, 2016 there have been 65 deaths in Middlesex County to which State Police Detectives have responded. Of that, 45 have been attributed to heroin.
– In 2015, there were 185 deaths; 142 of those were from heroin.
– In 2014, there were 145 deaths; 103 of those were from heroin.
– Submitted by DA Ryan’s office