Gas station heroin sold as dietary supplement alerts health officials
Tianeptine, found in convenience stores, smoke shops and online, can mimic an opioid. It is part of a growing class of substances that are difficult to control.
The young father walked across the parking lot to join other parents who were meeting their children's new preschool teachers . After a few steps, he started sweating and having contractions. As the sky turned, he staggered back to the car, desperate to lie in the back seat and breathe, hidden by the tinted windows.
"As -did you take anything?" his wife, Anne, yelled at him while calling 911. Eric, 26, had finished rehab earlier this summer.
“The blow! The shot!” he moaned just before hitting the ground and passing out.
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In the emergency room of a nearby hospital in southern New Jersey, the Doctors tried to resuscitate him with a defibrillator.
“What is he doing?” they shouted at Anne.
She showed them a shot-sized bottle of the cherry-flavored elixir that she had fished out of the car. It was called Neptune's Fix. Eric had it purchased at a local smoke shop.
“What is that?” asked a doctor.
Neptune's Fix contains an ingredient called tianeptine, commonly known as gas station heroin.
Often sold as a dietary supplement and promoted by retailers as a health stimulant mood and concentration aid, tianeptine is part of a growing and unregulated class of potentially addictive products available at gas stations, convenience stores, smoke shops and on the Internet. They generally include synthetic pharmaceuticals and substances of plant origin.
Some, such as
Tianeptine, found in convenience stores, smoke shops and online, can mimic an opioid. It is part of a growing class of substances that are difficult to control.
The young father walked across the parking lot to join other parents who were meeting their children's new preschool teachers . After a few steps, he started sweating and having contractions. As the sky turned, he staggered back to the car, desperate to lie in the back seat and breathe, hidden by the tinted windows.
"As -did you take anything?" his wife, Anne, yelled at him while calling 911. Eric, 26, had finished rehab earlier this summer.
“The blow! The shot!” he moaned just before hitting the ground and passing out.
Open this article in the new York Times Audio app on iOS.
In the emergency room of a nearby hospital in southern New Jersey, the Doctors tried to resuscitate him with a defibrillator.
“What is he doing?” they shouted at Anne.
She showed them a shot-sized bottle of the cherry-flavored elixir that she had fished out of the car. It was called Neptune's Fix. Eric had it purchased at a local smoke shop.
“What is that?” asked a doctor.
Neptune's Fix contains an ingredient called tianeptine, commonly known as gas station heroin.
Often sold as a dietary supplement and promoted by retailers as a health stimulant mood and concentration aid, tianeptine is part of a growing and unregulated class of potentially addictive products available at gas stations, convenience stores, smoke shops and on the Internet. They generally include synthetic pharmaceuticals and substances of plant origin.
Some, such as
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