scott grim horizontal crop
Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim says his office has been slammed with 10 possible drug-related deaths since April 16.
(lehighvalleylive.com file photo)
The Lehigh County Coroner's Office is investigating 10 possibly drug-related deaths since April 16, Coroner Scott Grim said.
The coroner's office is waiting for toxicology tests after autopsies involving four deaths on April 16, two deaths on Saturday, one death on Sunday, one death on Monday and two deaths on Wednesday, Grim said.
Authorities said Wednesday that the deaths are suspected of involving synthetic marijuana. Dozens of other people have required medical treatment, they added.
Da'Juan Parker, 27, is the 10th suspected drug victim, Grim said Thursday morning. The Dover, Delaware, man was pronounced dead at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday by a deputy coroner at the Ramada Inn, 1500 MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township. An autopsy was performed Thursday morning.
The cause and manner of death in all the cases are pending testing that could take eight to 10 weeks -- or longer, Grim said earlier Thursday morning.
"It could be a little bit longer -- there's been an explosion of possibly drug-related deaths in the county in the last week," Grim said, adding that various coroner's offices can use the same labs.
For example, the cause and manner of the Jan. 15 death of Andrew Ohl, 25, of Upper Saucon Township, who was suspected of using synthetic marijuana before assaulting Easton police on Nov. 25 Downtown, is still pending test results, Grim said Thursday.
The situation is the same across the state and the country, Grim said. He said he spoke Wednesday to colleges in western Pennsylvania and the Southwest.
"Everybody is experiencing increases in possible drug-related deaths," he said.
When the coroner's office investigates a person's possibly drug-related death, it obviously considers the physical evidence of drugs or paraphernalia at the scene, Grim said. But the coroner, his 19 deputies and office investigators also weigh a person's drug history, he added.
But then they must wait.
"We can't confirm it until toxicology tests are confirmed," Grim said. And the same can be true if a leafy substance is found.
"We don't know if it's marijuana or synthetic marijuana" until it's tested, he said.
While his office hasn't seen much recent evidence of people doing damage after taking the drug, that can happen.
"If they are messed up on the synthetics, they can be very violent, very agitated, very abusive," Grim said. "They can be very destructive. ... It all depends on how it effects that person's chemical system."
Ohl appeared to be growling as he struggled with Easton police before medical personal gave him a sedative and he was taken away in an ambulance.
Grim said he's not certain why his office is suddenly seeing so many suspected drug deaths.
"I think we're all scratching our heads, asking 'What's going on here," Grim said. "Why all of the sudden? ... It's a very dangerous environment right now."
He's seen other surges of drug deaths over his tenure in Lehigh County, but no one knows how long the current crisis will continue.
"I hope it's only a very short situation time-wise, but, again, we have no control over that," Grim said.
The deaths are taxing the system from police to coroners to hospitals to district attorneys, Grim said.
"With the increase of possible drug-related deaths, we perform autopsies and within the past week, we had 10 extra autopsies," Grim said. "We have one from this morning."
Telling families about drug-related deaths can draw as many reactions as there are possible chemicals used to create synthetic marijuana.
"Some get very angry, some get very frustrated, some expect it, and then some have no clue that it could be related to a drug overdose," Grim said. "It's the whole spectrum of feelings."