Dying Blind:We don’t know the real number of Nebraskans dying from drugs. It’s costing us.

  • Dying Blind: We don’t know the real number of Nebraskans dying from drugs. It’s costing us.
    Dying Blind: We don’t know the real number of Nebraskans dying from drugs. It’s costing us.

    Editor's Note: This article refers, in general, to the county attorney's role as coroners in Nebraska. Nothing should be inferred about the Pawnee County coroner

    Derrek Cocchiarella died slowly, lying in his mother’s bed on a June afternoon in a house full of family.

    He was napping, they thought. Over four hours, they checked on him often. They didn’t recognize his breath gurgling. They didn’t see t…