FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – Officials in Allen County are warning of the dangers amid an ongoing opioid crisis.
The Allen County Child Fatality Review Team is a group made up of doctors and local health officials as well as representatives from police departments.
They held a press conference on Friday to try to spread awareness and remind that just “one pill can kill.”
The following was issued:
Nearly 70,000 adults overdosed on fentanyl in 2021, representing nine of 10 total opioid overdoses in the U.S. that year. Sadly, the deadly synthetic painkiller also is a major player in the pediatric opioid crisis.
There was a 30-fold increase in child deaths from fentanyl use or exposure from 2013 to 2021, and northeast Indiana has not been spared from these sobering trends. This year, there have been four reported fentanyl deaths among teens in Allen County.
“These deaths serve an urgent notice to our community,” said Dr. Tony GiaQuinta, chairman of the Allen County Child Fatality Review Team. “We know teenagers often feel invincible, are more likely to take calculated risks and often make mistakes, but with fentanyl – there is just no room for error. One pill can kill.”
Fentanyl is incredibly potent and increasingly hidden from those thinking they are taking other substances. Federal investigators looking into overdose deaths have found that the drug is “laced” in fake prescription pills, such as the pain medicine Percocet.
In 2022, six of 10 non-prescription opioid pills contained a potentially lethal amount of fentanyl – as little as 2 milligrams, which would fit on the tip of a pencil.
Prescription pills carry risks, but nonprescription pills are deadly. Teens likely do not know whether they are getting a copycat or real pill. Imitation pills are more than 100 times stronger than the substances they imitate.
“In Allen County, about twice as many young people die from overdoses from substances like fentanyl than die in motor vehicle accidents,” said Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Gutwein, who is also a member of the Child Fatality Review Team. “We can prevent overdose deaths by reaching out and having open honest conversations with our friends and family members.”
Capt. Shane P. Lee of the Fort Wayne Police Department agreed.
“One of the dangers we notice is how similar these fentanyl-laced pills appear to prescription pills,” said Lee, also a review team member. “Teens may be deceived into thinking that as a ‘medicine,’ they are safer from harm. In reality, taking a pill not prescribed to them by their physician is equivalent to playing Russian Roulette. Indeed, even one pill can kill.”
Indiana law requires child fatality review teams in each county to better understand how and why children die, take action to prevent other deaths and improve the health and safety of our children. Teams are comprised of doctors and representatives of local health departments, as well as representatives from other agencies including county coroner and prosecutor’s offices.
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