Since St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston sounded the alarm about an uptick in overdose deaths last Sunday, three more people have died in the parish of what appear to be overdose deaths.
Last Sunday, Preston alerted the public that three men, all in their 30s and from different areas of the parish, had expired in a 24-hour period of suspected opioid overdoses.
Since then, three more people have died under similar circumstance, one on Monday in west St. Tammany, and two in the last 24 hours in Lacombe.
Preston said the toxicology reports will take some time, but he thinks all three of deaths are likely due to opioid overdoses. Preston added that office and agencies around the country are finding the toxic opioid Fentanyl in many other street drugs. Preston said eleven days into this month and we’ve already had six likely overdose deaths. He called them 100-percent preventable deaths and said people with addictions and their loved ones should keep Narcan on-hand, as it can reverse the effects of many overdoses if administered quickly. Preston finished by saying if it didn’t come from a pharmacy, don’t put it in your body.
