6 More Overdoses May Be Tied To 'Fake Percocet,' Georgia Officials Say

GEORGIA -- After four people died and a dozen were sickened in a two-day period this week, six more overdose cases are being investigated by the Georgia Department of Public Health, the agency said Wednesday.

State officials continue to investigate a wave of presumed opioid overdoses linked to the fatalities and mass hospitalizations in Middle and South Georgia. "Information continues to be fluid," DPH spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said in a news release.

Also enlisted in the probe is the Georgia Poison Center, which is working in tandem with the hospitals to gather more data "to determine whether these additional cases are connected to the cluster of overdoses reported in the past three days," Nydam said.
Read more: Wave of mass overdoses kills 4, sickens a dozen in Georgia
So far, over the past two days overdoses have been reported in Albany, Centerville, Macon, Perry and Warner Robins, the DPH said. "The drugs may also be sold on the street in other areas of the state," the agency said.

The DPH is urging the public to call 911 if someone they know is suspected of ingesting the pills. The agency said that people who are known to have taken the pills or overdosed should be handled with "extreme caution," since the ingredients of the drugs are a mystery.
"Do not handle the pills. Opioid overdose is a very dangerous condition that can result in permanent physical and mental damage, even death, if medical treatment is not administered right away," the DPH said.
The mass overdoses are being investigated by a multi-agency state force including, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency and hospitals.
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