Two fentanyl analogues are so deadly, it may take more doses of the drug naloxone, also known as Narcan, to save those who have overdosed, the GBI said Tuesday in a news release.
Acrylfentanyl and tetrahydrofuran fentanyl came to the GBI in March, when the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office submitted the drugs as part of forensic evidence. A month later, officials investigated four overdoses that killed two people in the county. At the time, authorities thought the overdoses were caused by a bad batch of deadly drugs such as heroin or fentanyl.
Officials have not said if the analogues are connected to the overdoses.
“It is not known how the human body will react to both drugs since they are not intended for human or veterinary use,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said. “The drugs can be absorbed through the skin and are considered highly dangerous.”
Acrylfentanyl was banned in Georgia in April, she said, and has been on the GBI watch list for months.
“It’s a very potent drug and there’s a high potential it has already killed people in Georgia,” Miles told Channel 2 Action News. “There are multiple reports that (the drugs are) showing resistance to naloxone.”
The news comes three weeks after four people were killed and dozens suffered from overdoses in a two-day span in Middle Georgia. The chief medical officer at Navicent Health in Macon told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a new drug in the area was being sold as Percocet. It’s possible the drug could be homemade.
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