Authorities are trying to figure out what is inside a mysterious yellow pill that is so potent it killed four people in central Georgia and sent dozens to the hospital.
Starting Sunday, paramedics were called to the scene of several overdoses, and once the patients arrived at the hospital, most had to undergo aggressive treatment, Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director of the Georgia Poison Center, told USA Today. Chris Hendry, chief medical officer at Navicent Health in Macon, said the pill can cause people to lose consciousness and go into severe respiratory failure.
The drug is new, Hendry said, and they are trying to identify it. Several patients said they thought they were buying Percocet, a potentially addictive opioid used to treat pain. In May, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's crime lab launched an investigation into counterfeit pills, and found that more than 450 contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 100 times stronger than morphine. Last year, nearly 1,300 people fatally overdosed on drugs in Georgia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
