from yahoo
DETROIT - Three more people in Wayne County have died from what authorities suspect is a combination of heroin or cocaine and fentanyl, a prescription painkiller.
The deaths, which occurred Friday night or Saturday morning, bring the county's total of overdose deaths believed to have been caused by the mixture to 44 since May 18.
The county medical examiner's office was investigating the latest deaths. Toxicology tests had been ordered, but results take about a month to arrive, The Detroit News reported.
Other cities, including Philadelphia and Chicago, also have reported deaths from the drug combination. The Detroit area is the apparent hub of the problem, with more than 100 confirmed cases since last fall.
Representatives of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating, and community organizations are scrambling to get the word out to drug users.
Officials in Wayne County have passed out more than 15,000 warning fliers, County Executive Robert Ficano said.
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