One Dead, More Than A Dozen Hospitalized In Mass Drug Overdose In California
Chico Fire Department Division Chief Jesse Alexander told the station it was the largest mass casualty incident he had seen in years.
CNN:
Mass Drug Overdose In California Kills 1 Person And Sends 14 More To Hospitals
A mass drug overdose at a home in Chico, California, has killed one person and sent more than a dozen people to hospitals, police said. Chico Police Chief Michael O'Brien said the main substance involved is believed to be fentanyl -- the most commonly used drug in overdoses, according to a recent government report. (Boyette and Yan, 1/14)
Sacramento Bee:
One Fatality, 12 Hospitalized In Chico Due To Apparent Overdoses
All 13 victims were found at a home in the 1100 block of Santana Court after a call came in at around 9 a.m. from someone inside the residence, Chico Police Chief Michael O’Brien said during a press conference. The city responded with all of its fire resources, Chico Fire Department Chief Steve Standridge said, including every ambulance. O’Brien said the mass overdose incident was probably caused by fentanyl, a highly potent opioid. (Dickman, 1/12)
In other news from the crisis —
Fresno Bee:
Fresno Man Snorted Cocaine But It Was Really Fentanyl. He Died.
The fetanyl drug overdose crisis that first erupted back east has come to Fresno County in a case where a Fresno man died of an overdose, Sheriff Margaret Mims said Monday. It’s unclear if this is the first fentanyl death in the county, but it is definitely one of the first and the trend is worrisome for first responders, she said. (Griswold, 1/14)
Fresno Bee:
CA Pharmacies Reject Some Pain Medication Prescriptions
Doctors around California are complaining that the state did not send them notice of a Jan. 1 change in prescription forms and that pharmacies are rejecting prescriptions for controlled substances on forms they used just last year. Dr. Richard Buss, a family practice physician in Jackson, said this is the second year the state made changes to prescription requirements without notifying doctors directly. (Anderson, 1/14)