Teens Overdose on Pills Shared at Dance

Teenagers, gobbling pills by the “hands-full,” overdosed on prescription muscle relaxants at a dance meant to keep them off the streets. Thirteen were in hospitals Saturday, 10 of those in critical condition.

“They were dropping like flies” when police and ambulances arrived at the Boys and Girls Club late Friday in Woburn, nine miles northwest of Boston, Police Officer Robert Giannotti said.

Most of the victims were teenage girls, ages 13 to 16, celebrating their selection for the cheerleading squad, said Dr. Michael Shannon, who treated eight of the youths at Children’s Hospital in Boston. He said their prognosis was good.

The teens had taken “hands-full” of the prescription muscle relaxant Baclofen, washing them down with water, soft drinks and beer, Shannon said.

Authorities were called when two teenagers were discovered passed out on a couch, witnesses said. Chaperons initially believed they were asleep.

“I saw a lot of people collapse. Some were foaming at the mouth,” said Steven Scalesse, a 15-year-old Kennedy Middle School student.

Tim Carr, who also attended the dance, saw “a lot of people passing out and vomiting and everything. Then they couldn’t wake them up. They all looked in bad shape.”

The drug often is used to treat cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis, normally in doses of one or two pills, Shannon said. Slightly higher doses can lead to euphoria or intoxication, and large doses can shut down the lungs and cause death, he said.

Shannon said a victim he spoke with had taken about seven pills and told him that others had taken as many as 35.

At least two of the teens who went home from the dance would have died in their beds had their parents not been called by officials worried they had taken the drug, Middlesex County Dist. Atty. Tom Reilly said. Their parents woke them and took them to hospitals.

Police said they know who handed out the pills, but they would not identify the person. Several parents and students said the pills were brought by a girl who attended the dance and became sick.

Eileen Mills said her 13-year-old daughter, Maureen, told her the girl offered the pills to others from a large bottle. “We’re thanking our lucky stars that Maureen made the right choice,” she said.

Edward Doherty of the Boys and Girls Club’s board of directors, said the club had been developing activities for teens, including the dances. “We wanted to make it inclusive. For them to have some place go, so they’re not out on the streets,” he said.