WINNEBAGO COUNTY (NBC 26) — The Winnebago County Medical Examiner's Office has issued an emergency public service announcement after seeing a spike in overdose deaths associated with counterfeit pills.
So far in 2023, there have been 15 overdose deaths. Of those deaths, officials say 12 are attributed to fentanyl with another seven deaths pending that are suspected to be fentanyl overdoses.
According to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, counterfeit pills are fake medications that have different ingredients than the actual medication that may contain no active ingredient, the wrong active ingredient or have the right ingredient with an incorrect quantity.
The Winnebago County Medical Examiner's Office is warning the counterfeit pills may contain lethal amounts of fentanyl or methamphetamine and are extremely dangerous as the counterfeits can appear to be identical to prescription pills.
Winnebago County has seen M30s that are testing positive for lethal amounts of fentanyl.
Officials say that with the wide availability of Narcan and other opioid antagonists, investigators suspect dozens or even hundreds more deaths may be tied to counterfeit pills.
Questions about the emergency PSA can be directed to the Winnebago County Medical Examiner's Office.
