Heavy load from heroin overdoses overwhelming Trumbull coroner's office

HOWLAND

Trumbull County’s heroin overdose epidemic is intensifying, according to data presented by Coroner Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk.

Dr. Germaniuk updated the numbers on the county’s heroin epidemic Friday, saying there have been 16 confirmed overdose deaths so far this year and probably 27 more that have not been confirmed yet for a total of 43 — nearly three per week.

By comparison, the county had 39 such deaths in all of 2013, which spiked to 54 in 2014. Dr. Germaniuk said the number would reach 125 by the end of 2015 at the current rate — almost double the record high of 64 in 2007.

“We’re getting killed over there,” Dr. Germaniuk said of the workload at the coroner’s office.

He spoke to more than 200 substance-abuse professionals and others attending a day-long Alliance for Substance Abuse Opiate Summit at Avalon Inn.

It featured the overdose-death statistics from Dr. Germaniuk, a more national overview from a recovering addict who is senior adviser to the federal Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration and eight other presentations.

Read more in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.