Opioid Epidemic: Drug Counselors Die After Overdose Of Heroin And Fentanyl Cocktail At Addiction Facility

Two Pennsylvania drug counselors died after overdosing on opioids at an addiction facility in southeastern part of the state, according to the Chester County District Attorney, Thursday. The two were responsible for overseeing the daily activities of six residents — all recovering drug addicts — at the Freedom Ridge Recovery Lodge in West Brandywine.

"If anybody is wondering how bad the opioid epidemic has become, this case is a frightening example," Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said. "The staff members in charge of supervising recovering addicts succumbed to their own addiction and died of opioid overdoses. Opioids are a monster that is slowly consuming our population."

First responders arrived at the facility Sunday after the counselors were found unresponsive by the six recovering addicts. The counselors were found with used needles and small packets of heroin near their bodies, the district attorney's office said. The attorney's office also said that one of the counselors was given an injection of the opioid antidote naloxone, but it didn't revive the counselor. Both counselors were pronounced dead by first responders.

Read: Opioid Epidemic's Latest Drug 'Gray Death' Is A Lethal Heroin Cocktail

The facility, where both the counselors worked, describes itself as "a special recovery home for men that provides a safe place to live.” It promises the following to residents: “We can help you build a strong sense of yourself so you can return to a new world with a feeling of success and strength. You will acquire tools that will enable you to gain a new way of life.”

Other than the empty packets of heroin and syringe, first responders also found a half-empty spoon two packs of cigarettes, a vaporizer, and cases of snus tobacco, according to New York Daily News.

The drugs “appear to be heroin laced with fentanyl and are likely to kill anybody who uses them. We will not even let law enforcement handle them without special precautions because of the extreme danger of death or injury,” Hogan said.

The deaths of the counselors' are under investigation by the Chester County Detectives and West Brandywine Police Department.

The country has experienced a dramatic spike in overdose deaths, which have more than doubled since 1999. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows the fatalities tend to affect middle-aged adults and white people the most. Heroin-related overdoses more than quadrupled since 2010, with death rates increasing by more than 20 percent from 2014 to 2015 alone.

On average, 91 people die every day in the U.S. from opioid overdoses, Hogan said.

At a meeting in March about the "Use and Misuse of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids," Wilson M. Compton, Deputy Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, spoke about the side-effects of opioid addiction.

He said: “The misuse of and addiction to opioids – including prescription pain medicines, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl – is a serious national problem that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare.”