A 700% Increase

Jackson County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Lindsey Haldiman refelcts on one of the worst things she had seen during her career, all the preventable deaths caused by fentanyl-related overdoses.

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From 2018 to 2022, the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office saw more than a 700% increase in deaths due to fentanyl, from 23 deaths in 2018 (an average of one every 16 days), to 189 in 2022 (an average of one every other day). And all these deaths were completely preventable.

Fentanyl does not discriminate. I’ve seen deaths from fentanyl in individuals as young as 10 months of age to 73 years old.

This synthetic opioid is now being commonly mixed with other drugs and to also manufacture counterfeit prescription drugs. Illicit drug manufacturers are not interested in quality control. Some of the drugs and fake pills they sell will contain larger amounts of fentanyl than others.

Which pill will contain a fatal amount of fentanyl? Taking these pills or other drugs laced with fentanyl is like playing Russian Roulette. Eventually, the outcome will be death. The first time you “play” might kill you.

» Fentanyl: A Medical Examiner's Perspective