LACOMBE, La. (WGNO) — An investigation was launched into two overdose deaths in St. Tammany Parish Wednesday.
That led the coroner’s office to believe tainted drugs were being sold on the streets.
“We’ve seen in the last couple of years a marked uptick in the number of fentanyl overdoses and we are seeing increases in the number of drugs that are tainted with fentanyl of all sorts,” Chief Deputy Coroner Robert Sigillito.
In 2021, more than 150 died from overdoses in the parish. Of that, 132 were opiate-related.
In 2022, the trend continued upward. During the first four months of the year, 35 people overdosed on opioids.
Overnight, a 15-year-old died from taking several pills and a 22-year-old man lost his life to just one.
Toxicology and the autopsy reports could take up to a month to be released. In the meantime, the coroner’s office hit the ground running on other programs that could help save a life.
“Anyone can come to a fire department or here to the coroner’s office to get a sample of Narcan to keep at home or in their car,” Sigillito said. “You never know when you’re going to come across a situation where someone needs Narcan administered.”
The office also gave out packets of a product called Deterra that dissolves pills to properly get rid of old prescriptions.
“Any of these illicit drugs are dangerous enough in and of themselves,” Sigillito said. “But when you have an added effect of a high potency opiate like fentanyl or the derivatives, the risk of death after injecting these substances is tremendous.”