The coroner for Northern Ireland has called the rising number of deaths linked to fake versions of the anti-anxiety drug, Xanax, “an escalating crisis”.
Joe McCrisken says he is signing off an alprazolam-related death nearly once a week.
He says “most of the deaths” are caused by counterfeit versions of Xanax, the brand name for the drug alprazolam.
“The deaths are a very tiny tip of what is a very huge iceberg,” he says.
Xanax is used to treat anxiety and panic attacks. It is not available on the NHS. It is a powerful tranquiliser.
But it can be obtained on private prescription in the UK, is widely prescribed in the US, and counterfeit versions circulate on the black market.
Last year, the BBC found that children as young as 11 were being treated by ambulance services after taking fake versions of it.
Mr McCrisken said the number of deaths linked to alprazolam in Northern Ireland had risen from one in 2015, to 26 in 2017.
“In 2018, it’s looking like that might double to somewhere around 50 provisionally.
“That’s an indication of not an emerging crisis, but an escalating crisis. It’s a very real public health concern.”
