Local medical professionals warn about fentanyl-laced prescription medications
News Channel 3 is continuing to follow the details of former local state Assemblymember Brian Nestande’s death in March.
According to an autopsy report, Nestande’s blood contained a fatal mix of a "designer form of fentanyl and a cocaine metabolite."
Modafinil, commonly used to treat sleep apnea, and Losartan, a high blood pressure medication, from Mexico were found at Nestande’s residence.
As the investigation into Nestande's death continues, medical experts at the Betty Ford Center say that buying prescriptions outside of your trusted pharamcy is a risk with potentially deadly consequences if the pills are illegitimate.
“Illicit fentanyl is being made in labs across the border or within our country. And these different synthetic fentanyl pills are much, much stronger. For example, the strongest one is called "carfentanil" and it's an elephant tranquilizer," Dr. Teresa Jackson, Medical Director, Betty Ford Center.
According to Riverside County Overdose to Action, or RODA, hundreds of people die from fentanyl overdoses a year in Riverside County.
Wendy Heatherington, the Branch Chief of Epidemilogy with Riverside University Health System, says that a large number of fentanyl deaths in the county are related to overdoses from laced prescriptions.
“With our partnership with the Riverside County Sheriff's coroner's office...we do see a lot of counterfeit pills at the scenes of the deaths," said Heatherington.
The Betty Ford Center says the best way to prevent an overdose is to only fill your prescriptions with a local trusted pharmacy and to carry narcan with you at all times.
To watch Karen Devine's extensive I-Team report regarding the fentanyl crisis, click here.
