New Mom Goes On Suspected Bath Salts Rampage In Maternity Ward
July 5 2012, Published 11:00 a.m. ET
By Debbie Emery - RadarOnline.com Reporter
A new mother's violent outburst in the hospital just two days after giving birth is thought to be the latest incident related to a wave of dangerous synthetic drugs sweeping the country.
Carla Murphy, of Altoona, Pennsylvania, allegedly stripped down naked in the maternity ward, assaulted hospital staff and even tried to bite a police officer on June 17 in a drug-induced rampage after smoking "blizzard," which is another name for the now notorious bath salts, reported the Altoona Mirror.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, bath salts exploded into the public attention with the gruesome case of Rudy Eugene, who ate the face off a homeless man in Miami, Florida in May, while growling at the authorities when they tried to restrain him. It was strongly suspected that the 31-year-old was on bath salts, however, the Medical Examiner's office recently revealed that only marijuana was found in his system at the time of the attack.
In the latest example, Murphy was deemed "not of sound mind or able to make her own decisions," by doctors after she was found rolling around on the shower floor appearing confused and unable to answer basic questions about her whereabouts, and staff decided she was on drugs that weren't given to her at the hospital.
When she gave police permission to search her belongings, they dismantled a black pen with residue of a substance inside as well as other signs of drug use, including a lighter and "silver 'Disco' package wrapped in medical tape containing a white substance," according to the report.
Murphy was given the anti-psychotic drug Haldol by a nurse at the direction of a doctor and was asked to sit down on her bed, but instead she continued to yell at the staff and flail her arms aggressively before darting toward the door and pushing past nurses and officers. She then punched one nurse, kicked another and tried to bite a police officer.
Once handcuffed and subdued by the Haldol, she was taken to Blair County Prison charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and harassment as well as several drug counts including felony possession of a designer drug.
When a Youth & Families case worker visited the home where Murphy lives with boyfriend, Michael W. Stewart, police allegedly found an array of drug paraphernalia, including needles, aluminum foil, Blizzard containers and a broken glass bottle with brown residue on it.
Stewart told officers he was aware Murphy once had a problem with Blizzard, a street name for the illegal stimulant MDPV, but thought she was done with it.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the Drug Enforcement Agency is attempting to control the wave of dangerous synthetic drugs that go by a number of names including bath salts, K2, Spice, Ivory Wave, Vanilla Sky, Bliss, and Purple Rain.
"The chemicals that have been made temporarily illegal and designated Schedule 1 controlled substances are mephedron, methylone and MDPV - but they are the ingredients, not the products themselves," DEA spokesperson Barbara Carreno, told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview.
"The challenge with synthetic drugs is that any good chemist can tweak their molecular structure and formula and you have a new product, which isn't illegal," she explained. "It is hard for the law to keep up with them."
RELATED STORIES:
Man High On Bath Salts Screams 'I'm Going To Eat You!' Resists Taser & Pepper Spray
Miami Face-Eating Cannibal Was On Marijuana NOT Bath Salts, Rules M.E.
Baths Salts, K2 And Spice, Dangers Of The Designer Drugs Sweeping America
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
