- Illicit drugs circulating locally are causing a public health emergency
- A doctor from Lehigh Valley Health Network is part of a five-year study that determines what is in the drug supply
- It's not heroin, but a combination of stronger substances that increase the risk of overdosing
BETHLEHEM. Pa. — A local doctor is sounding the alarm after participating in a study of illicit drugs.
The ongoing project, in year four of five through the American College of Toxicology, is to determine what is in the local drug supply.
“We want to keep our patients safe, right?" said Dr. Alexandra Amauducci, an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist at Lehigh Valley Health Network who is part of the study.
"So we want to know what they're ingesting and what effects it's having on them, and so we're trying to keep up with the drug supply and find out what's in it so that we can best treat our patients and work on prevention."
The findings show that drugs circulating locally do not contain heroin, but a combination of substances called novel potent opioids, some of which are stronger than fentanyl.
"We talk about this with our patients all the time," Amauducci said. "They may think that they are using heroin, but they're actually using fentanyl or some of these novel potent opioids and so they're much stronger than what heroin was years ago."
“There's really no longer heroin in the drug supply in this part of the country, it's mostly fentanyl."Dr. Alexandra Amauducci, Lehigh Valley Health Network
“There's really no longer heroin in the drug supply in this part of the country. It's mostly fentanyl, which we knew.
"Now we are finding that there's a very contaminated drug supply, meaning that it's not one single drug that people are using, it's a mix of multiple different drugs.
"But we found there are these substances called novel potent opioids, some of which are in the class of nitazenes, which seem to be much more powerful than fentanyl."
‘They need much more aggressive care'
Lehigh Valley Health Network is among 10 sites participating in the study, funded by the National Institute of Health.
“What we have found is that it's much easier for patients to overdose."Dr. Alexandra Amauducci, emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist at Lehigh Valley Health Network
It’s conducted by taking a de-identified sample of an overdosing patient’s blood and sending it to a lab to see exactly what is in the drug supply that caused the overdose.
Amauducci said the findings reveal a public health emergency.
“What we have found is that it's much easier for patients to overdose," she said.
"Some patients have even gone into cardiac arrest, meaning that not only did they stop breathing, but their heart stopped as well, and that they may require more doses of naloxone, which is the brand name Narcan, to reverse the opioid toxidrome or higher doses of Narcan."
Naloxone is available without a prescription at most pharmacies. Doctors advise people who are using or have family who may be using those types of drugs to have naloxone on hand in case of a life-or-death situation.
Amauducci said the point of the study is to let people know what's in the drug supply and how to treat it.
"It's getting the word out," she said. "It's spreading it among the public. It's spreading it among providers to let them know that these classes of drugs exist, letting them know they're more powerful than drugs we've seen typically, and they need much more aggressive care.”
During and now after the coronavirus pandemic, Amauducci said the medical community saw what she calls a “drastic rise” in substance abuse.
