Powerful new opioid found in Fishers

FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) — A powerful opioid was found for the first time in a recent overdose death in Fishers.

The Hamilton County coroner tells I-Team 8 the drug nitazene is 60 times more powerful than fentanyl, which accounts for 66% of overdose deaths in the state, according to the Indiana Department of Health .

“It’s being referred to as the Frankenstein drug because of how powerful it is,” Coroner Jeff Jellison said.

Nitazene is so scary for Jellison because it can go undetected.

In the recent case of a 39-year-old man who died in Fishers, Jellison said, “The original toxicology report came back negative, but yet there was a tremendous amount of evidence on the scene that this was an overdose case.”

They asked the toxicology lab to expand its testing. That’s when nitazene was identified as the killer.

The drug itself is old. It was discovered in the 1950s to try and replace morphine, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration never approved nitazene.

Jellison says nitazene been a problem in Ohio, and he was waiting for a case in Hamilton County. In July, it happened.

The coroner said, “Most people are purchasing this drug unknown. They’re ordering pills through black market pharmacies.”

But, they’re not getting what they order. “They’re just actually getting just a cocktail of poison.”

That’s why Jellison is warning people that one pill can kill.

The Fishers Police Department was continued to investigate the July death to figure out if the drug that caused the overdose came from a black market pharmacy overseas, or if someone here in Indiana dealt it to the person who died.

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