Archive for category: Uncategorized

Overdoses increasing due to fentanyl, Shoreline official tells Horry County leaders

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https://www.wbtw.com/news/grand-strand/horry-county/overdoses-increasing-due-to-fentanyl-shoreline-health-official-tells-horry-county-leaders/

Recommendations issued for spending SC’s $360M portion of $26B opioid lawsuit settlement

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Recommendations issued for spending SC’s $360M portion of $26B opioid lawsuit settlement (wmbfnews.com)

Temporary Change to Open Access Hours

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Starting next week (April 25th) our Open Access hours will be reduced to Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. There will be NO Open Access on Tuesday and Thursday. This is a temporary situation and we hope to be back to regular open access hours in a few weeks. Thank you for your patience and understanding.  Our Facebook account will be updated when we resume regular open access hours.

From OxyContin to fentanyl, Myrtle Beach’s current drug epidemic is ‘larger than ever’

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From OxyContin to fentanyl, Myrtle Beach’s current drug epidemic is ‘larger than ever’

More than 1,600 purple ribbons dotted the Collins Park grass in Conway amid a small congregation of residents. Many wore yellow shirts with “Got Recovery?” written in red on the back. A series of faces with a name and either “RIP” or “Revived” displayed on a nearby television screen to each picture’s left. This group had gathered August 31 in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day, and each ribbon represented a South Carolina resident whose life was lost to a drug overdose during 2020.

Read more from The Sun News click here.

DEA warns about fentanyl-laced black market pain medications amid spike in overdoses

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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warned the public Monday of an increase in black market painkillers that are laced with fentanyl or methamphetamine.

“The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.

“Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before,” Milgram continued. “In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose.”

The agency said the fake pills are easily available on social media platforms and e-commerce websites and are designed to look like legitimate prescription drugs. Authorities seized more than 9.5 million fake pills so far this year.

To read the entire The Hill article click here.

Health officials warn fake ‘blue pills’ are causing hundreds of overdoses in SC

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – South Carolina’s Opioid Emergency Response Team has issued a warning about a new counterfeit pain pill blamed for hundreds of opioid overdoses across the state.

The OERT advisory said the fake, 30mg Roxicodone, also known as “blue pills,” are laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.

Since January 2020, more than 500 suspected opioid overdoses statewide have involved “blue pills,” according to the OERT alert.

“It’s something that might be perceived to be a safe, prescription drug, that could be misused perhaps. When really, it’s an illicitly made manufactured, potent drug that is deadly,” Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services Director Sara Goldsby said. “That’s where we’ve been identifying it is in individuals who have experienced overdose related to these blue pills.”

 

To read the entire WIS News10 article click here.

New South Carolina law will put Narcan in some opioid patient’s medicine cabinets

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) – A bill recently signed into law in South Carolina will give certain people on opioids easier access to an overdose reversal drug.

South Carolina is one of the first states to enact a co-prescription policy. Those who meet certain qualifications will be prescribed Naloxone, an overdose reversal drug, along with the opioid.

“If you were given a high dose of an opioid, if you are also prescribed a benzodiazepine or if you have a prior history of opioid-use with a disorder or an overdose itself, those would be the circumstances in which this bill would trigger that co-prescription,” said Russell Fry, Horry County state representative.

 

To read the entire WBTW News13 article click here.