Karch

Asked if that's usually how overdoses are diagnosed Karch says, "That fits my experience."

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012

"I don't know where they got their numbers," Karch says of the CDC estimates.

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012

"I don't know where they got their numbers," Karch says of the CDC estimates.

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012

"There are plenty of people walking around with levels of opioids in their bodies that would be declared toxic if they were dead on a slab in a medical examiner's office," Karch says.

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012

"There are plenty of people walking around with levels of opioids in their bodies that would be declared toxic if they were dead on a slab in a medical examiner's office," Karch says.

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012

Asked if that's usually how overdoses are diagnosed Karch says, "That fits my experience."

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012

Won 4-1 at Buchanan (Clovis) as Eric Karch had nine strikeouts.

Baseball Super 25: Rockwall (Texas) takes over No. 1 spot 2010

Won 2-0 at Clovis East (Clovis) as Eric Karch threw two-hitter and drove in a run.

Baseball Super 25: Rockwall (Texas) takes over No. 1 spot 2010

Dr. Steven Karch, who has written a widely used textbook on drug abuse and pathology, says because tolerance for opioids can vary so much from person to person, there's no scientific way to definitively say that a death was caused by an opioid overdose.

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012

"I don't know where they got their numbers," Karch says of the CDC estimates.

Radley Balko: The New Panic Over Prescription Painkillers Radley Balko 2012