London region opioid overdoses have 'skyrocketed' amid fears of new 'toxic form' of street drug

Health authorities in London are sounding the alarm after reports of 16 suspected opioid overdoses in the region over the last two days. 

The Middlesex-London Health Unit issued an alert Tuesday, which said "reports of suspected opioid-related poisonings have skyrocketed over the last few days" amid fears of a potentially "new and toxic form of drug on the streets." 

The spike was detected by health officials using data collected from hospital emergency rooms across the region. It suggests that, since the weekend, the number of suspected overdoses have gone "off the charts," according to region's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Chris Mackie. 

"This spike is quite out of line with what we've had before," he said, noting the rate of suspected overdoses is twice what medical authorities have seen during past spikes. 

'Numbers out of whack' with recent trends

The last spike in overdoses for the region happened in August, when health authorities warned that stronger fentanyl was circulating through the community, but Mackie said Tuesday that the current spike is far more serious. 

"Even that alert pales in comparison to what we're seeing today," he said. "We're really seeing the numbers out of whack with what the trends have been." 

Among the suspected overdoses was an inmate at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, who was rushed to hospital on Sunday where he was declared dead.

In nearby Woodstock, police have also been dealing with a spate of overdoses in the last 48 hours, with six suspected opioid poisonings, one of which took the life of a 17-year-old Woodstock boy. 

Mackie said Tuesday that while medical authorities do not recommend using illegal drugs, he would advise people not to use alone and if possible to use their drugs at London's supervised consumption site. 

No information on potentially deadly drug

Medical authorities in London were unable to provide information for drug users that could potentially identify any stronger or toxic version of the street drugs believed to be behind the rash of overdoses. 

Mackie said Tuesday that public health officials have nothing to go on other than data that corroborates the potential presence of a new and dangerous form of drug and that any more detail would have to come from police. 

"We don't have the individual level information at this point," Mackie said, noting medical officials would only look at the matter on a population level and that police would investigate the individual cases. 

While London Police Chief John Pare was quoted in the public statement issued Tuesday by the Middlesex-London Health Unit, calls to city police by CBC News were not answered Tuesday afternoon.