Free Republic

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said Sunday that her only child, 22-year-old Max Barry, has died of an apparent drug overdose. An emotional statement released by the mayor and her husband, Bruce Barry, said their son died in Denver on Saturday night. "Early this morning, we received news that no parents should ever have to hear. Our son Max suffered from an overdose and passed away. We cannot begin to describe the pain and heartbreak that comes with losing our only child. Our son was a kind soul full of life and love for his family and friends," the statement said....

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — A controversial proposal has been made in an Ohio city to deal with heroin overdoses. Middletown is considering whether people with addiction should only be given two strikes before they’re out of chances at Narcan. Middletown is struggling to deal with the heroin problem. “We are faced with stress on our services, particularly the EMS services where we can do six to eight opioid overdose runs a day,” said Paul Lolli, fire chief of Middletown.

This DRUG is being used OFF LABEL and KILLS, fueling the FAKE Opioid Crisis. PIG PHARMA pushed. It's called Subsys and it's a painkiller 100 times more powerful than morphine that was approved by the FDA for cancer patients whose agony can't be relieved by other narcotics alone.

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows that nearly 5,000 more people died from opioids in 2015 than in 2014. Both heroin and opioid use have exploded in the US, after decades of doctors over-prescribing painkillers in the 1990s and 2000s. A report from the CDC released Thursday found that the drug problem has become so deadly that heroin deaths outnumbered gun fatalities last year for the first time in US history. Until 2007, gun deaths outnumbered heroin deaths five to one, according to the Washington Post. But 2015 saw 12,989 people die from heroin and 12,979...

Drug overdose deaths have increased by 33 percent in the past five years across the country, with some states seeing jumps of nearly 200 percent. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 states saw increases in overdose deaths resulting from the abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers, a class of drugs known as opioids. New Hampshire saw a 191 percent increase while North Dakota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine had death rates jump by over 100 percent. …

The Philadelphia medical examiner’s office says as many as 35 fatal drug overdoses over a recent five-day period might be part of a bigger problem: the national opioid crisis. Philadelphia police and the medical examiner’s office are working to determine the cause of the overdoses and possible reasons for the spike in deaths. “There are overdoses that occur every day and people don’t die,” said police spokesman Lt. John Stanford. “What’s coming to the forefront is the fact that people are overdosing and dying.” A dozen people alone died from overdoses Dec. 1. Another four died the following day. That...

Telling people to “drink plenty of fluids” when unwell could be dangerous, doctors have warned. Experts at King’s College Hospital in south London questioned the recommendation after treating a 59-year-old woman who drank so much water that she became gravely ill. The woman, who is not named, overdosed on water after developing symptoms of a urinary tract infection. She recalled being told by a doctor previously to drink lots of water — half a pint every 30 minutes — though she said she thought in this case, she had consumed more to “flush out her system”. The woman was admitted...

Burning Man, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, has grown from a tiny summer solstice bonfire gathering on the beach in 1986 near San Francisco to such a powerful cultural phenomenon that no less than President Barack Obama name-checked it at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April. His 18-year-old daughter, Malia, he joked, isn't allowed to go. Running this year from Aug. 28 to Sept. 5, Burning Man — where attendees include Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, iHeartMedia chairman Bob Pittman, director Chris Weitz (who met and married his wife, Mercedes Martinez, there) and...

The number of drug overdose deaths has soared by 73% in the city over the last five years, data released Tuesday by the Health Department show. There were 937 accidental fatal ODs in 2015 — up from 800 the year before, and from 541 in 2010. The rate of people dying from drug overdoses jumped for the fifth-straight year, to 13.6 for every 100,000 residents — a 66% jump from 2010. …

law-enforcement official tells The Associated Press that tests show Prince died of an opioid overdose.

An emotional Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday signed what he called the most comprehensive law in the nation to combat an opioid addiction scourge, including a seven-day limit on first-time prescriptions for opiate painkillers. The Republican governor struggled to maintain his composure while recalling families he had met — some standing behind him at the Statehouse ceremony — who had lost loved ones to a “deadly, merciless epidemic” and others who were desperately seeking help for a family member. In recent years, the opiate-abuse epidemic has claimed thousands of lives in Massachusetts. The law, which was given final approval by...

Scott Weiland, the dynamic stage presence and instantly recognizable voice behind Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died. He was 48. Weiland's manager confirmed the news to Rolling Stone. The details surrounding the singer's death will be released Friday

There’s absolutely tragic news to report as former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland died Thursday night (Dec. 3) at the age of 48. The news has been confirmed with an official statement posted on the rocker’s social media sites.

I took 35 Viagra after a two-day bender EXCLUSIVE: ...and had a hard time in hospital DOZY Daniel Medforth ended up in hospital after necking 35 Viagra in an hour, giving him a five-day erection. [....] An overdose can cause chest pain, nausea, a racing pulse, and fainting from low blood pressure. It can even lead to loss of consciousness, brain haemorrhage and death.

A neighbor says he heard the cries of a 9-month-old boy who authorities believe later starved after his mother died of an apparent overdose inside their Pittsburgh-area apartment. William Gonzalez tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ( http://bit.ly/1BdYU7k ) he heard the cries of little Casey Kessler when he went in and out of the apartment building in Millvale but didn't think much of it at the time. Gonzalez says he feels horrible.

A former child actress who played Mel Gibson's young daughter in the 2000 film The Patriot died July 19 in part as a result of huffing, Texas Authorities revealed Monday. Tests reveal 21-year-old actress Skye McCole Bartusiak had muscle relaxers, painkillers and a chemical refrigerant difluoroethane in her system at the time of her death, reports TMZ.

Denver County Fair officials confirmed they are investigating at least three separate cases of people who said they were drugged after eating a Full Melt Chocolate bar that contained THC at the Denver County Fair's Pot Pavilion.Denver County Fair Spokesperson, Dana Cain said at least two of those people went to the hospital after they became dizzy, sick and confused.  They tested positive for THC."I was given one of these, it looked just like that," Richard Jones said as he pointed to a picture of a Full Melt Chocolate bar on his computer screen.The Pot Pavilion was new to the...

(CNN) -- Dozens of concertgoers were hospitalized during a show by superstar DJ Avicii in Boston on Wednesday night, CNN affiliates reported. Local media put the number of patients anywhere between 30 and 80. Massachusetts General Hospital told CNN it received 13 patients between ages 16 and 19. All of the patients are being evaluated, said Kory Zhao, a hospital public affairs officer. Most patients had a problem with dehydration, drugs and alcohol, authorities told CNN affiliate WHDH.

Maureen Dowd, author of “Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk”, speaks during a panel discussion during a luncheon at the Book Expo America convention, Saturday, June 5, 2004, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey) I never smoked marijuana before, and Maureen Dowd‘s haphazard experience with a weed-laced candy bar in her Denver hotel room certainly isn’t motivating me to book a plane ticket to what is soon to be dubbed the “Mile High State.” The New York Times columnist was in Colorado reporting on the state’s first months of legalized marijuana use when she decided to take what she later learned...