Seventy deaths in seven weeks drive unprecedented drug toll. (Photo: Journal Sentinel) 
 
 Earlier this month, Brian Peterson tried to give those gathered at a local opioid round-table discussion a sense of the scale of drug-related deaths in Milwaukee. 
 
 While homicides, motor vehicle and infant sleep-related deaths have loomed large in the news, Milwaukee's chief medical examiner said, when all three are added together "that's less than the number of overdoses we've had." 
 
 On Thursday, Peterson's office announced that 70 people have died from probable drug overdoses in Milwaukee County in the past seven weeks. 
 
 One of them was Peterson's son. 
 
 Adam Peterson, 29, died Monday at a friend's apartment in the 2700 block of W. Clybourn St., according to a medical examiner's report. Peterson, according to the report, had a history of drug use and was believed to be homeless when he died. 
 
 U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who hosted the round-table discussion, said: “I was sitting at the same table as Brian two weeks ago in Milwaukee discussing the trail of tragedies and heartbreak that addiction leaves in its wake. No family is immune. My prayers go out to Brian and his family at this time. I will continue to fight this fight for all those who have lost loved ones.” 
 
 According to the report: 
 
 Adam Peterson had been staying at the apartment for several days. His roommate told police he awoke from a nap around 6:45 p.m. and found Peterson face down on the floor, vomit coming from his mouth. An emergency medical team was unable to resuscitate Peterson, who was pronounced dead shortly before 7:30 p.m. 
 
 In a messenger-style bag that belonged to Peterson, investigators found a plastic bag that contained topiramate, which is a nerve pain and anticonvulsant medication, and citalopram, which is used to treat depression. A razor blade and a small bag containing cotton balls were also found on the floor. 
 
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 At the discussion hosted by Johnson at Milwaukee Area Technical College, Brian Peterson said that one out of three cases autopsied in one month earlier this year were overdose cases. 
 
 The ages of the dead spanned "63 years or so at the high end, down to 1 year old," he said. 
 
 "We had a 1-year-old found dead on a mattress of methadone poisoning," he said. "Unfortunately, that's not uncommon either." 
 
 The job of the medical examiner, he said, "is to help with clean data to help everybody understand." 
 
 "We're kind of the last responders," he said. 
 
 On Thursday, Peterson, who became the county's medical examiner in 2008, had no comment and asked for privacy for himself and his family. 
 
 His office described the number of deaths announced Thursday as "unprecedented." 
 
 "We have tossed out our projected number of total drug-related deaths for 2016," said Karen Domagalski, the medical examiner's office's operations manager. The office had estimated that there would be a record 288 deaths in 2016, she said. 
 
 As of July 27, there had been 168 confirmed deaths, more than the total for 2012. A record 254 people died from drug-related causes in 2015. 
 
 Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.jsonl.in/2d3dbPy ||||| The son of Milwaukee County's chief medical examiner died this week of an suspected drug overdose. 
 
 
 
 Adam Peterson, 29, on Monday became one of the more than 140 people whose death in Milwaukee County is believed to be related to narcotics. 
 
 
 
 Peterson was staying on the 2700 block of West Clybourn Street in Milwaukee and was found by a friend laying face down on a floor. First responders administered Narcan, a drug used as an antidote to opiates. He did not react to the drug and was pronounced dead at around 7:30 p.m., an investigative report said. 
 
 
 
 Peterson is the son of Dr. Brian Peterson, who heads the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. Data released from the office on Wednesday showed that this year is on track to outpace the previous five in heroin-related deaths and will exceed the number of deaths classified as homicides in each of the four years from 2011 to 2014. 
 
 
 
 There have been 71 overdose deaths in the county in the previous seven weeks, officials said. 
 
 
 
 Back in April, WISN 12 partnered with IMPACT, a Milwaukee organization which assists residents through health and productivity issues, including drug addiction, on an awareness campaign. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, contact IMPACT at 866-211-3380. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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– There have been more than 160 drug-related deaths in Milwaukee County, Wis., this year, 70 of them in the last seven weeks, and that is more than just a grim statistic for Chief Medical Examiner Brian Peterson. His own son, Adam Peterson, a 29-year-old with a history of drug use, was found on the floor of a friend's apartment Monday and was pronounced dead after failing to respond to anti-overdose drug Narcan, WISN reports. Brian Peterson, who has asked for privacy, told a conference earlier this month that his office was dealing with more overdose deaths than murders, car accident deaths, and sleep-related infant deaths combined, the Journal Sentinel reports. "We had a 1-year-old found dead on a mattress of methadone poisoning," Peterson told the round table. "Unfortunately, that's not uncommon either." He described medical examiners as "kind of the last responders," whose job it is "to help with clean data to help everybody understand." "I was sitting at the same table as Brian two weeks ago in Milwaukee discussing the trail of tragedies and heartbreak that addiction leaves in its wake," Sen. Ron Johnson tells the Journal Sentinel. "No family is immune. My prayers go out to Brian and his family at this time. I will continue to fight this fight for all those who have lost loved ones." (This small city in West Virginia had to deal with 27 overdoses in less than five hours.)