The Rise of Counterfeit Pills in the Media: The Case against First Responders Overdosing with Fentanyl

A chyron on the right-wing cable channel Fox News blared about how a Florence office is collapsing after exposure to Fentyl. In the New York Post, a headline thundered, “Florida cop who OD’d after fentanyl exposure ‘couldn’t breathe.’”

A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. Sign up for the daily digest chronicling the evolving media landscape here.

The stigma of second-hand dangers of the drug, as well as creating a feedback loop for first responders, can be caused by news organizations repeating reports without scrutiny.

It’s unlikely that law enforcement officials or other first responders will suffer an overdose after being exposed to a person using drugs, according to a doctor.

Outside biowarfare situations are not aerosolized and inhaled through the air because they are not well-absorbed through the skin.

According to Wen, the media’s accounts are at risk with claims of first responders overdosing. “It could dissuade people from assisting those in need.”

Editor’s Note: Dr. Scott Hadland is a pediatrician and expert on adolescent substance use. He is the chief of adolescent medicine at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and Harvard Medical School. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. His views are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.

Parents should address any drug use prior to the child’s birth. One-third of teens who die of an overdose have misused opioids before, and one in seven has had a prior overdose that they survived. Many already misuse other drugs or alcohol. All of these are warning signs that should be urgently addressed by a medical professional.

Counterfeit pills are everywhere in America. The Drug Enforcement Administration seized more fake pills in the next four years. When a teen buys a pill from a friend or dealer, it is now more likely than not that it will be a counterfeit and contain a lethal amount of fentanyl. Counterfeit pills now cause at least one out of every four teen overdose deaths, though this is likely an underestimate because pills found at death scenes are rarely tested.

Evidence-based treatments are available for teens who have an addiction to opiate drugs. Although we aim to help most teens stop using opioids altogether, teens who do use should be counseled to never use them alone (so that someone can intervene if an overdose occurs), and to avoid mixing opioids with other sedatives like alcohol or other medications. In some locations, test strips are available to help teens understand whether their drugs contain fentanyl, which also sometimes contaminates other drugs like cocaine.

Second, be prepared. Know the signs of a drug overdose. Teens who overdose initially appear groggy and pale, then quickly lose consciousness and become limp. Their lips turn blue as their breathing slows or stops.

The drug is able to block opiate’s effects on the brain. The respiratory system can be depressed by overdoses. By interrupting that connection before it’s too late, Narcan can wake a person from a lethal stupor. The instructions on the two-pack carton say that the Narcan administrator should apply one dose in the nostril of a person suspected of having overdosed and then call 911. If the person does not rouse within two or three minutes, a second dose can be applied in the other nostril.

Drug Overdoses and Mental Health: A Panel Discussion on Naloxone and the Role of Cocaine-Fentanyl in Addiction

Getting these services is critical. Talk to the teen doctor who is responsible for guiding you through the treatment system. The US government keeps active lists of treatment programs for mental health and addiction, so it’s easier for people to find care. Many states also have telephone hotlines. The US has a national crisis line for people to call or text. A wealth of education for parents and high-quality tools are available through the Partnership to End Addiction.

Many public health experts think that if more people had the spray at home, or in their pockets or knapsacks, they would be less likely to die.

In its efforts to combat the overdose crisis, the Biden administration has made expansion of access to the medicine a priority. The increasing number of people who die from drug overdoses include people addicted to narcotics such as Opium or Percocet, and those who illegally purchased narcotic drugs like Xanax that were contaminated with Fentanyl. Experts said during Wednesday’s hearing that the combination of drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine with the drugfentancho has led to even more accidental overdoses.

In recommending that the spray become as easily available as ibuprofen, the 19 voting panelists determined that naloxone, which was approved as an overdose-reversal injection in 1971, is abundantly safe and effective even in infants, with almost no potential for misuse or abuse. And, the panels concluded, naloxone does not require medical training to use.

The panel members said that the side effects of withdrawal were relatively insignificant compared to the medicine. Naloxone, which comes in a nasal spray, a vial and preloaded syringes, is believed to have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Now, victims can be found with needles still in their arms, a once-rare phenomenon that is a sign of how quickly fentanyl can kill, Dr. Graham said. Family members sometimes don’t know to intervene when they mistakenly think an overdose is for snoring.

Dr. Pardi: Forensics as a Drug Dependent Physician and a Gallows-Theoretical Darboux Investigation

Justine Pardi, one of the lab’s toxicologists, said she copes by focusing on the work and “not thinking about the case behind every single sample you’re doing, because that would just be overwhelming.”

Her boss, Gail Cooper, the head forensic toxicologist, reminds her staff that their work brings closure to families. It also helps police decipher what is in the drug supply, shapes health policy and provides information to the public about why street drugs have become so deadly, even for people who just use them occasionally.

To keep up morale, staff members decorate their meeting room with cotton snowballs in the winter and flowers in the spring. In a flash of gallows humor, they taped a sign on their huge walk-in refrigerator door showing the actor Christopher Walken’s face.

The decorations can’t hide the smell of formaldehyde or the rows of jars connected to a person who died of a suspected drug overdose. Many people in the fridge and freezer have bodily fluids that are stored near their stomachs and brains.

The scale of death they have faced in the last few years has astounded them, but forensic scientists by necessity must have a hard shell. Dr. Cooper has been in the field for over two decades and has never seen anything like this before.