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Tag: fatal overdose

  • Drugs Found In NFL Player's Home After Woman's Overdose Death

    Drugs Found In NFL Player's Home After Woman's Overdose Death

    Investigators reportedly found pills, marijuana and foil with residue during their search of Montae Nicholson’s home.

    Washington Redskins safety Montae Nicholson and his friend Kyle Askew-Collins dropped off 21-year-old Julia Crabbe at Inova Emergency Room-Ashburn HealthPlex early last Thursday morning. She was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly thereafter. Hours later, investigators performed a search of Nicholson’s home.

    According to the Post, Crabbe and Nicholson had been dating for six months.

    The Investigation Begins

    According to USA Today Sports published info about the search of Nicholson’s home:

    The search warrant states that authorities executed the warrant and searched Nicholson’s home in Ashburn, Virginia, on Thursday, hours after Nicholson and another man — identified in the report as Kyle Askew-Collins — dropped off Julia Crabbe in a car at Inova Emergency Room-Ashburn HealthPlex. 

    The search warrant said that hospital staff reported that Crabbe “appeared to be deceased” when removed from the car at the hospital. There were indications that she died of a drug overdose, according to the warrant.

    The warrant did not specify to whom the drugs belonged. The warrant indicated that police also recovered a safe and black box, an iPhone, a coat and a notebook from the house.

    The Washington Post reports investigators found pills, marijuana and foil with residue during the search. They recovered “a safe and black box, an iPhone, a $20 bill, towels, a blanket, a coat and a notebook” during the search of Nicholson’s home. 

    Nicholson’s attorney Mark Dycio told The Washington Post, “Montae would have no knowledge of the drugs because they belonged to a guest. It’s a tragic story. It’s a tragedy that the news is focused on where she died instead of the drug epidemic ravaging the country.”

    The Night Of

    According to the search warrant, an unnamed source told investigators that on the night in question, Nicholson, Askew-Collins and Crabbe went out to dinner in DC. Later that evening, Crabbe was discovered in the bathroom, unresponsive. Askew-Collins allegedly called an unnamed individual for help with the situation with Crabbe who was described as foaming at the mouth and in the middle of what appeared to be an overdose.

    Nicholson and Askew-Collins never called 911; instead they decided to bring Crabbe to a hospital which was a short distance away from their location. 

    No one has been charged in connection with Crabbe’s death but Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said their investigation is ongoing.

    Any Given Sunday

    On the Sunday aftter the incident, Nicholson suited up to play the NY Jets. The team lost 34-17.

    When asked by reporters about the team’s decision to let Nicholson play, Washngton Redskins coach Bill Calahan had this to say, “I didn’t get into all of that. (Nicholson) spoke to a lot of other people in the organization relative to that situation. From my perspective, in terms of playing him and the decision of playing him was strictly based on coaching gathered with all of the other information that I had.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Harm Reduction Educator Who Trained Thousands To Use Narcan Loses Addiction Battle

    Harm Reduction Educator Who Trained Thousands To Use Narcan Loses Addiction Battle

    Kevin Donovan died on September 28 at the age of 40.

    The Syracuse harm reduction community is mourning the loss of advocate and educator Kevin Donovan, who died in late September of an apparent overdose.

    According to his obituary, “He lost his battle with addiction following a long-term recovery.”

    Donovan trained many in his community how to administer Narcan, a brand of naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversing drug.

    Saving Lives

    Will Murtaugh, executive director of ACR Health, said that more than 500 people that were trained by Donovan used their Narcan training. “That means, 500 people’s lives were reversed,” he said, according to WRVO.

    ACR Health is a community health center with a syringe exchange and a Drug User Health Hub which offers a range of prevention and sexual health services to people of all ages. Donovan was also the founder and director of Healing Hearts Collaborative, an opioid overdose prevention program.

    Kevin’s work was informed by his own experience in recovery. “To remove the stigma of the disease, he openly shared his struggles with addiction to educate others of treatment options, and he was a staunch advocate for the use of Narcan,” read his obituary.

    Colleagues Speak Out

    According to Murtaugh, Kevin did not seek help at his time of need despite having a supportive community around him.

    “We’re all hurting a little bit, because he knows we were here for him and he could’ve come to us anytime and got that support,” he said. “This is a typical overdose. We’ve had many of them. People end up using alone, and they die alone, because they don’t have those supports around them that they need. We try, and Kevin did too, to educate everyone. Do not use alone. Do a test shot. Make sure that there is Narcan in the house.”

    ACR Health lost two other staff members in 2016 and 2017.

    The center supports having supervised injection facilities, also known as overdose prevention facilities, to give people a place to use under medical supervision where they can access treatment if they feel ready.

    Safe Consumption Sites

    A federal judge recently ruled that such facilities would not violate federal law, which the current administration tried to argue against in court. An organization in Philadelphia was on the other side of the legal fight. It now has the green light to move forward with plans to establish what would be the first overdose prevention site in the United States.

    In May, Donovan was featured by WRVO for giving the Narcan training that saved a woman’s life. The woman became unresponsive inside a local business and staff members responded by administering Narcan. She was revived by the time EMT arrived.

    “What made me really happy was their willingness to share their story, and to say, this is a positive thing we want to do for our community,” said Donovan at the time. “That’s a life. The stigma is so bad, sometimes this stuff happens, and people don’t want to share it, or want anything to do with it in the public vision.”

    Kevin Donovan died on September 28 at the age of 40. He is survived by his son Rowan, his parents, brother and extended family.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Louis Tomlinson's Sister Died Of Accidental Overdose, Coroner Says

    Louis Tomlinson's Sister Died Of Accidental Overdose, Coroner Says

    Félicité Tomlinson passed away earlier this year at the age of 18.

    A coroner has determined the cause of death of Félicité Tomlinson—“a perfect storm” of drugs that triggered her fatal overdose earlier this year.

    Tomlinson, a model and social media influencer, was the sister of One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson. Coroner Shirley Radcliffe ruled that the young woman’s death on March 13 was a result of a fatal mixture of Xanax, OxyContin and cocaine, which were found at “toxic” levels in her blood.

    While Radcliffe described the combination as “a perfect storm” leading to Félicité’s death, she said there was no evidence that it was “a deliberate act to end her life.”

    On March 13, paramedics responded to a suspected cardiac arrest in Félicité’s West London home. Though her friend Zainab Mohammed called 911, she was not able to be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene. She was 18 years old.

    Mohammed told investigators that the pair had snorted cocaine on the night of March 12, but she was not aware of Félicité taking other drugs.

    Losing Their Mother

    Félicité had a recent history of drug use. The Guardian reported that she “had taken overdoses and been admitted to drug rehabilitation.”

    She had turned to drugs since she and Louis lost their mother to leukemia in 2016, according to investigators. Last summer, on a visit to her doctor, Félicité “gave a history of recreational drug use over a year and on a consistent basis since the death of her mother.”

    Louis Tomlinson addressed her passing on social media in April. “Just wanted to thank everyone for their lovely words over the past couple of weeks. Back in the studio today to vocal something I wrote a few months ago. Sending you all loads of love x.”

    Their father read a tribute to Félicité at Westminster coroner’s court. “Félicité had huge hopes and aspirations for her future, a lot of which were beginning to come to fruition at her untimely passing,” he said. “She is missed by all who knew and loved her.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Man Arrested For Giving Mac Miller Fake Oxy That Caused Fatal Overdose

    Man Arrested For Giving Mac Miller Fake Oxy That Caused Fatal Overdose

    When Miller was reported dead, the man allegedly sent a message to a friend saying, “Most likely I will die in jail.”

    A 28-year-old Hollywood Hills man has been arrested in connection to the fatal overdose of rapper Mac Miller.

    Cameron James Pettit has been charged with one count of distribution of a controlled substance and if convicted, faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to a Department of Justice press release.

    “Pettit and others distributed narcotics to 26-year-old Malcolm James McCormick… approximately two days before McCormick suffered a fatal drug overdose in Studio City on September 7, 2018,” according to the DOJ statement.

    A medical examiner ruled that the rapper died of mixed drug toxicity involving fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.

    Text Messages

    Through a warrant, authorities obtained messages between Pettit and McCormick arranging for the rapper to purchase oxycodone, cocaine and Xanax from Pettit.

    “But, instead of providing McCormick with genuine oxycodone when he made the delivery during the early morning hours of September 5, Pettit allegedly sold McCormick counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin,” according to the DOJ statement.

    Investigators believe the rapper’s fatal overdose was triggered by snorting the fake oxycodone provided by Pettit.

    After McCormick was reported dead, Pettit sent a message to a friend saying, “Most likely I will die in jail.”

    He said also said, “I’m gonna get off the grid…move to another country” four days after the rapper’s death, according to Heavy.

    Other Suspects

    An investigation by the DEA is ongoing, with two other individuals suspected of supplying McCormick with drugs. They have not been charged, but a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said other charges are possible.

    “Fentanyl disguised as a genuine pharmaceutical is a killer, which is being proven every day in America,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna. “Drugs laced with cheap and potent fentanyl are increasingly common, and we owe it to the victims and their families to aggressively target the drug dealers that cause these overdose deaths.”

    More than 800 people are expected to attend a vigil marking the first anniversary of McCormick’s death at Blue Slide Park, which inspired his debut studio album of the same name. The vigil will take place at the park in Pittsburgh, his hometown, on Friday, Sept. 6th.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Man Who Shared Drugs That Caused Fatal Overdose Appeals Conviction

    Man Who Shared Drugs That Caused Fatal Overdose Appeals Conviction

    Two friends pooled money to buy heroin. Should the one who made the run be held responsible for the other’s fatal overdose?

    In October 2013, Jesse Carillo, a college student at the University of Massachusetts, headed south to New York, where he purchased heroin before returning to campus. Back at home he shared the drugs with his friend Eric Sinacori.

    Two days later, Carillo made the same run, and again brought drugs back for Sinacori. The next day, Sinacori died at age 20 from a heroin overdose. 

    Carillo was charged in connection with the overdose, and sentenced to a year in jail for involuntary manslaughter and drug distribution. However, he appealed his conviction and on Monday (Feb. 4) the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts heard the case over whether people should face charges when the drugs they share lead to a fatal overdose. 

    “When Jesse and another addict pooled their funds to purchase this heroin, it should not constitute manslaughter when the other addict overdosed,” Jay Carney, Carrillo’s lawyer, told The Boston Globe before the hearing. “We are asking the SJC to reassess the approaches taken in heroin cases given the opiate crisis in Massachusetts… These addicts should not be treated the same as drug dealers selling heroin for profit.”

    Before the SJC, Carney emphasized that Carrillo, who now works at a recovery center, was not criminally responsible for his friend’s overdose.

    “Jesse Carrillo was not a drug dealer. He didn’t profit from getting Eric the heroin, he didn’t benefit in any way. He just pooled the money, went to the dealer, purchased it, and gave Eric exactly what he had paid for,” the lawyer said, according to WBUR. 

    In Massachusetts, officials including the governor and attorney general have called for stricter penalties for people who provide the drugs that lead to an overdose. However, Carney insisted that these calls should focus on dealers, not people like Carillo who merely purchased the drugs for friends. 

    “I realize that I raised the hackles of the attorney general, who filed an amicus brief saying heroin is wicked bad. It’s wicked bad. We know that,” Carillo said. “What we have to determine is, is a person acting as a possessor of heroin when he buys heroin in a joint venture with another person?”

    Justice Scott Kafker seemed to take the point, especially since Carillo and Sinacori had purchased drugs together before from the same dealer that they used in October 2013. 

    “He’s bought this heroin multiple times, used it himself, he’s not died on any of these occasions. Isn’t that about as safe a drug delivery as we’re going to hear about when you’re dealing with heroin?” Kafker said. 

    However, Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Von Flatern, who was prosecuting the case, said that Carillo was acting recklessly by supplying drugs to someone with a severe addiction. The case hinges on whether Carillo was acting in a “wanton and reckless” manner by giving Sinacori the drugs. 

    Around the country, drug users often face charges when the people they are using with overdose. In Massachusetts, the case is expected to have policy implications when the SJC issues a ruling, which is expected within 130 days.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Roseanne Barr Says Her Character On "Conners" Will Suffer Fatal Overdose

    Roseanne Barr Says Her Character On "Conners" Will Suffer Fatal Overdose

    Barr revealed the alleged fate of her namesake character in a recent interview.

    As the premiere of The Conners nears, fans of the show are that much closer to learning how Roseanne Conner gets written off the show.

    In May, Roseanne Barr was kicked off her own classic sitcom, Roseanne, over a racist tweet that ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey called “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.”

    The show was revived in 2018 and enjoyed positive reviews, but was canceled in May because of the controversy.

    ABC decided to move on without Barr with its spin-off The Conners, which airs on October 16.

    John Goodman, who plays Roseanne’s husband Dan Conner, hinted at Roseanne’s death in a recent interview with The Times. “I guess [Dan will] be mopey and sad because his wife’s dead,” he said in August.

    While we won’t know Roseanne’s fate until the show airs, Barr said in a new interview that her character dies of a drug overdose. “Oh ya, they killed her. They have her die of an opioid overdose,” she said on the YouTube show Walk Away.

    She’s not happy about it. “It wasn’t enough to [fire me], they had to so cruelly insult the people who loved that family and that show,” she said.

    But the comedian, who was also dropped by her talent agency at the peak of the controversy, is ready to move on from the drama. “There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s done. It’s over. There’s no fight left.”

    According to People, The Conners officially started production in August. The spin-off will follow “the Conner family who, after a sudden turn of events, are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.”

    While it’s a rather shocking way to write off the beloved titular character, a drug overdose is plausible for Roseanne after what we saw in the last season. 

    We learn in season 10 that Roseanne is dependent on pain medication. Desperate to put off a costly surgical procedure, she keeps secret stashes around the house to keep her pain at bay. “I got these pills because I’m going to be dealing with this for a long time,” she tells Dan in the episode “Netflix & Pill.”

    “I’m in pain so I take a few extra pills. It’s not like I’m a drug addict.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Is It Possible To Overdose On Caffeine?

    Is It Possible To Overdose On Caffeine?

    A new article delved into the potential risks of ingesting too much caffeine.

    Though caffeine is technically a “drug,” its effects are relatively benign.

    The naturally-occurring stimulant can be found in certain plants, nuts, seeds, and food products like sodas, teas, and chocolates.

    The normal daily serving of caffeine—per the U.S. government’s dietary guidelines—is up to 400 mg of caffeine, or 3-5 8-ounce cups of coffee. The effects range from alertness and a faster heart rate, to anxiousness, dehydration, and headache.

    Caffeine will begin to affect the body at a concentration of 15 milligrams per liter (mg/L) in the blood. Most of the time the effects are benign and do not cause lasting harm.

    However, while a fatal or even life-threatening overdose of caffeine is quite rare, consuming large amounts of caffeine can be harmful.

    According to Medical News Today, a concentration of 80 to 100 mg/L of caffeine in the body can be fatal.

    A death resulting from too much caffeine is typically caused by ventricular fibrillation—a rapid, inadequate heartbeat that prohibits the heart from pumping blood and leads to cardiac arrest. 

    Symptoms of a caffeine overdose include a fast/irregular heartbeat, shakiness, nausea or vomiting, confusion, and a panic attack. Treating a caffeine overdose may include receiving intravenous fluids, supplements, or activated charcoal.

    According to a 2018 review of scientific journal articles dating back to when online databases began, there have been 92 total reported deaths from caffeine overdose—researchers believe that about one-third of these deaths were “likely to be suicide,” according to Medical News Today.

    Coffee and tea typically do not pose a risk of caffeine overdose, but the risk is higher with dietary supplements and caffeine tablets, which contain higher concentrations of caffeine.

    Purified caffeine powder poses the highest risk of an overdose. According to Medical News Today, it is “highly dangerous and much more likely to cause an overdose.”

    One teaspoon of caffeine powder can be equivalent to 28 cups of coffee, according to the Food and Drug Administration; each teaspoon can contain 3,200-6,400 mg of caffeine.

    Mixing caffeine with alcohol can carry its own set of risks. Having caffeine with alcohol, a depressant, can “mask the effect” of alcohol by making a person feel more alert and believe they can drink more than they normally would.

    Recently the long-held belief that coffee can sober you up from a night of drinking was debunked.

    “We know from wider research that coffee isn’t an antidote to alcohol,” said Professor Tony Moss of London South Bank University. “Taking coffee as a stimulant that will reverse that feeling of being slightly tired as your blood alcohol is coming down.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Friend Who Found Bobbi Kristina Brown in Tub Dies from Apparent Overdose

    Friend Who Found Bobbi Kristina Brown in Tub Dies from Apparent Overdose

    Prior to his death, Max Lomas had successfully completed three months in a rehab facility and had recently found a job.

    Max Lomas, who gained notoriety after finding the late Bobbi Kristina Brown unconscious in a bathtub in 2015, has died from what has been described as a “probable” drug overdose.

    The 28-year-old, who lived with Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s daughter before her drug-related death in 2015, was found unresponsive, with a syringe by his side in the bathroom of a home in Saltillo, Mississippi on August 15, 2018. Lomas was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

    According to People, a cause of death has not been determined, but death investigation papers obtained by the publication list heroin overdose as the probable cause of death.

    People noted that prior to his death, Lomas had successfully completed three months in a rehabilitation facility and had recently found a job.

    “He really worked the program,” said a source close to Lomas, who reportedly spoke to him on a weekly basis while he was in treatment. “He had come so far. There was so much he wanted to do.”

    Lomas had been taken in by Whitney Houston as a teenager, and was briefly linked to Bobbi Kristina Brown before the relationship came to a halt when he was incarcerated in 2011 for violating his probation.

    Upon his release, he found that Brown was dating Nick Gordon, and the trio soon began living together as roommates in Roswell, Georgia. By Lomas’ account, he and the couple were “pretty bad into drugs,” and Gordon and Brown fought on a regular basis, “mostly about jealousy.”

    Lomas also claimed that Gordon was abusive towards Brown, a statement that has been decried by Gordon’s lawyers.

    On January 31, 2015, Lomas found Brown floating face down in a bathtub in the trio’s townhouse. “I saw the color of her face and that she wasn’t breathing. I called for Nick and called 911,” he stated.

    Gordon was subsequently blamed for Brown’s death by her family, who served him with a $40 million civil lawsuit over the alleged abuse. In 2016, he was found liable for Brown’s death and ordered to pay $36 million to her estate.

    As People noted, no charges were filed against Lomas, who told the publication in 2016 that he was sober and no longer friends with Gordon.

    “I’m in utter disbelief because I knew he had gone and gotten help in Mississippi,” said Garry Grace, a friend of both Lomas and Gordon, to People on August 17. “I didn’t have to worry about him because I knew he was safe.”

    View the original article at thefix.com