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Upstate Coroner says: New type of opioid responsible for 3 deaths

New Opioid
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Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis is warning about a new opioid, with health risks he rates as bad or worse than fentanyl. The coroner's media release brands the product marketed as protonitazene [ "a new synthetic opioid with no medically accepted use".]

Addis says toxicology confirms its involvement in three overdose deaths in Oconee County between February 12th and 14th. The victims were two men ages 45 and 65, found dead outside a home near West Union. Also, a 24-year old woman who died in her home in Westminster.


Addis says he suspects the drug will be widely distributed across the Carolinas and Northeast Georgia.Quoting his report: "Protonitazene has the potential to cause rapid sedation, respiratory depression, and death."