Tippecanoe County sees spike in heroin deaths

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - A northern Indiana coroner is warning about a spike of heroin deaths in the past week.

Tippecanoe County Coroner Donna Avolt tells the Journal & Courier (http://on.jconline.com/1wS0onX ) that last week the county had seven people overdose from heroin and five of them died. Avolt says she wants the public to be aware there has been a "huge spike" of heroin in the county.

Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital Chief of Emergency Medicine Marc Estes said last year that his staff was seeing one or two heroin overdoses each week. He said three years earlier, such incidents were rare.

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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com