Rising carfentanil overdoses in US; are local health experts worried?

(WBNG) — A recent rise in overdose deaths in several states throughout the nation related to the synthetic opioid carfentanil has led Southern Tier health officials to be on alert for the drug.

According to the Federal Drug Administration, carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl which is already 50 times more potent than heroin. California has issued an alert regarding a recent spike in overdoses linked to the drug.

The Southern Tier had its own run-in with carfentanil. Tioga County Public Health said in 2018 three overdose deaths were linked to the drug.

“This is something we don’t want to see in our area, obviously the heroine, the fentanyl is really scary, but when Carfentanil gets put in the mix, that’s totally, that’s just another level of fear for us,” said Kylie Holochak with Tioga County Public Health.

Christina Olevano, a prevention supervisor at Casa Trinity says drugs often come in cycles and it’s possible carfentanil may be making a return.

“We kind of look at other states and other areas that have traditionally had some issues with these substances then we can kind of try to at least foreshadow that will an uprise in fetanyl related overdoses that it is a possibility that Carfentanil is coming on its heels,” said Olevano.

In March, 13 overdose deaths linked to fentanyl were reported in Broome County. Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell says those lab reports have not been returned, however, they’re not ruling anything out.

“I expect that it could be carfentanil mixed in, it could be different types of fentanyl or synthetics, things that we haven’t identified yet,” said Cornwell, “we’re going to be able to get information back from the lab specifically on what’s in the drug so we know what the mixture is and the drugs that are in there so we know more about it. If we know more about it, we can better use that information to track down the root of the problem.”

While waiting for the results, health experts urge the public to be aware of the drug and learn preventative measures.

“It’s so important for people to get narcan training and carry narcan with them because anybody can save a life and use narcan to prevent an overdose from resulting in death.” said Olevano.

Cornwell says the results of the lab reports are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

For more information on synthetic opioids, prevention and treatment you can reaching out to Tioga Public Health here or Casa Trinity here.