Pubdate: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2000 Orlando Sentinel Contact: 633 N.Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801 Fax: (407) 420-5286 Website: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ Forum: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/interact/messageboards/ Author: James R. McDonough Director, Office of Drug Control DRUG REPORT The May 21 article by Sentinel reporter Henry Pierson Curtis, "Bad research clouds state death reports," presents information in such a way as to undercut the serious consequences of so-called designer drugs. Its critique of an "official tally of rave-drug deaths" (the Sentinel's words) missed the point that the list was not completely vetted. Our plan all along was to review each of the death reports to ensure that it accurately reflected the purpose of the study -- to determine the impact of the illicit use of club/designer drugs to the citizens of Florida. By May 15, that review had reduced that number to 188, with 97 cases listed as the cause of death (either as the result of a single club/designer drug or one or more of these drugs) and an additional 91 cases in which these drugs were present in the deceased. The list continues to be vetted. Contrary to the impression left by the Sentinel article, the Medical Examiners Commission has been involved with this review from the beginning. Its advice has been sought and followed. We had removed, prior to publication of the article, the young boy who died of a heart ailment, the 4-year-old who died in a hospital, the infant-crib death and all of the senior citizens included in the medical examiners' submissions. We exercised care in how we used the information we gathered because we knew that some of the deaths reported to us might not be related to designer drugs. We sought to protect the privacy of the families of the deceased. That is why we did not provide names to the Sentinel. The reporter dug out those names and saw fit to publish them. My heart goes out to the families of those named in the story. It is unfortunate they had to undergo the additional sadness of public disclosure. The greatest danger, however, is that the article is likely to leave readers with the notion that concerns about designer drugs are overblown. In truth, a year ago we knew little about this problem. By asking hard questions, we now know that designer drugs are a significant killer. While we continue to review cases of reported deaths, as we have since the onset of our study, it is clear that designer drugs -- taken alone or in combination -- represent a new wave of drug abuse in our state and our nation. James R. McDonough Director, Office of Drug Control, Tallahassee - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson