ME’s OFFICE OVERBURDENED: The state medical examiner’s office, overburdened by deaths related to the opioid epidemic, will be able to hire three additional examiners, state health officials confirmed. Meredith Cohn of the Sun writes that examiners have been struggling to perform autopsies on schedule, and the office already has run afoul of national workload standards.

NEW DRUG, NEW OD DEATHS: Health and law enforcement officials around the state are bracing for an uptick in drug overdoses as a deadly synthetic opioid only meant for use in large animals has hit Maryland streets. The drug, carfentanil, already has been linked to two overdose deaths in Anne Arundel County and one in Frederick County, Andrea McDaniels of the Sun reports.

A 53-year-old Frederick man’s death was among the first three in Maryland attributed to a new synthetic opioid that is typically used to tranquilize elephants and other large animals, reports Jeremy Arias for the Frederick News-Post.
WMAR-TV is reporting that Lt. Ryan Frashure of the Anne Arundel County Police has said that, “We were notified by the State of Maryland that two of our overdose deaths here in the county had carfentanil in their system. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is often cut with heroin and it’s very, very dangerous.”