Overview
- At a committee hearing, health leaders said the multiagency response to three Penn North mass overdoses was rapid and effective, with all 35 patients from July 10 surviving and outreach teams distributing naloxone and other supplies during the Oct. 8 incident.
- Officials said after-action reviews led to a draft four-part protocol emphasizing coordinated response, reducing fatalities, expanding access to treatment, and reducing stigma, with command roles and notification procedures still under review.
- Council members urged closer coordination with the housing department to target vacant properties and disinvested areas associated with overdose clusters.
- Lawmakers questioned police leadership in these responses, pointing to only two drug citations issued in Penn North in the first seven months of 2025 as the city leaned on community-based approaches.
- Separately, McKesson and Cencora have appealed the reduced $152.3 million judgment in Baltimore’s opioid case, leaving potential remediation funding unresolved.