Investigators Can’t Explain String Of Mysterious Overdoses In Kentucky Prison

A jail in Kentucky suspiciously reported that seven inmates had overdosed within hours of one another Monday. The inmates, who were all in the same cell, overdosed in three separate incidents, just hours apart, according to Big Sandy Regional Detention Center Administrator Byron Hansford.

“Fortunately, our staff, while doing security checks of the cells, found these individuals and contacted medical staff and they were all treated with Narcan and sent to Paul B. Hall Medical Center,” Hansford said.

All of the inmates who overdosed had only been at the facility for less than six days when the overdoses occurred. Investigators have not yet identified the drugs that caused the overdoses or how the prisoners obtained them.

Official: 7 inmates overdose at Big Sandy Regional Detention Center https://t.co/12JhzbuA3Y

— WYMT (@WYMT) November 22, 2021

Four of the inmates have been released from the medical facility and have been returned to the detention center while three inmates are still being treated in the hospital.

“All indications are that they’re fine and should be back in the facility today sometime,” Hansford said Monday.

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released data Wednesday showing that more than 100,000 have died from drug overdoses between April 2020 and April 2021, up from 78,000 during the previous year. Kentucky in particular saw an increase in overdose deaths by more than 50% from the previous year.

Two doctors in Florence, Kentucky, were indicted in February for their involvement in distributing opioids. The doctors were linked to the overdose deaths of at least six of their former patients.