There has been a wave of overdoses, some fatal, in the Sacramento area in California and the suspicion falls on fake Norco pills that contained fentanyl.
Forty eight opioid-related overdoses have been reported to the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) since March 23.
According to the agency, some of the affected people bought pills on the street and were told it was Norco, an opioid pain killer often misused as an illicit recreational drug. However, lab tests on some of the pills that were retrieved showed they didn’t contain the active ingredients of Norco (hydrocodone and acetaminophen) but instead contained fentanyl.
“This indicates that they are really Fentanyl pills (street drugs—counterfeit) that have been made to look like Norco,” DHHS stated.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid estimated to be 80 times more potent than morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin, according to DHHS.
Symptoms of an overdose include unconsciousness, unresponsiveness, trouble breathing, no breathing, bluish skin, vomiting, and pinpoint pupils.
“Public Health advises residents to decline from taking prescription-type pills that are not prescribed by and obtained from one’s own physician and/or pharmacy,” an April 6 DHHS release states.
A fentanyl overdose can be countered with Naloxone, an anti-opioid drug.
