FENTANYL-LACED HEROIN SUSPECTED IN GRUNDY DEATHS

The Grundy County coroner will start screening for homemade fentanyl
after two deaths in a week that might be linked to fentanyl-laced heroin.

On Saturday morning, Michael McGovern, 19, of Seneca was pronounced
dead in Morris Hospital. And on Aug. 19, Edward Niekirk, 44, was
found dead in his Morris home by his son.

While Coroner John Callahan's office is investigating both deaths and
awaiting toxicology reports, he said Wednesday he is "very, very
certain these are fentanyl-related deaths."

Screening for homemade fentanyl will help ensure accurate autopsy
reports and hopefully serve as a warning about drug use, Callahan said.

Most of Illinois' fentanyl-related deaths have occurred in Cook
County, which has recorded 185 since April 2005, including 145 in Chicago.

Callahan, whose county is about an hour's drive south of Chicago,
said the concern is that fentanyl-laced heroin is spreading outward.

"We've known for some time that heroin is in the area. It's
inexpensive and easy to get right now," Callahan said. "We just had
another [fentanyl overdose] Monday night--another man in Morris that
overdosed. Word on the street is that he survived, but he's supposed
to be in bad shape."

Statewide, other drugs such as crystal meth are a far greater
problem, said Coles County Coroner Mike Nichols, president of the
Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association.

Nichols said he hasn't heard much about fentanyl-laced heroin from
other association members.

"It's not an epidemic," he said. "Meth is our destruction down here.
I have more deaths related to meth. And then there's the offspring
that people who get hooked on the stuff [meth] go out and commit
other crimes to support their habit."

Fentanyl, a synthetic pain medication, is 80 to 100 times more potent
than morphine.

Drug dealers have begun lacing heroin with fentanyl, either to add
punch to low-grade heroin or to lure users with the quick high that
it provides.

But the hazard with fentanyl is that it is so potent that the line
between high and dead is razor thin. And when it's cooked by
amateurs, there's no way to know its exact potency.

"I don't want to give out the recipe, but all the ingredients you
would need to make it in a lab at home can be bought over the
counter, no prescription needed," Callahan said. "But this is where
we get in trouble, because none of these folks are chemists. Far from
it. There's no control on the manufacturing process, nor any
knowledgeable control on the heroin itself. Every batch is going to
have a different potency."

Callahan said that although Grundy County has not had many overdose
deaths from fentanyl or other illegal drugs, he wants to warn
potential users of the risk, and warn parents to be alert for signs
of heroin use by their children.

"Knowing that it has been in the counties around us for some time,
and now we have two deaths, I'd rather be proactive and not have any
business than try to react to each one," Callahan said.

His office already screens for prescription fentanyl as part of
toxicology tests, he said, but is adding the screen for homemade
fentanyl to ensure accuracy in future autopsies.

"But it's also to emphasize to people that, number one, it's wrong to
take drugs, but that you're going to do something that you know
nothing about. And people are paying the price for it."