Fentanyl Deaths Rise in South Bay

Every news story over the past couple of months aside from COVID-19 has seemed secondary, while officials have grappled with the worst pandemic in a century.

One non-COVID story that has the attention of Santa Clara County leaders: rising numbers of deaths from illicit fentanyl.

The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office said Wednesday that fentanyl-related deaths from Jan. 1 to May 8 were almost triple what they were for the same time frame in 2019, according to a Bay City News Service report published Thursday in the Mountain View Voice.

“In the last week or two there have been approximately seven fatal fentanyl overdoses, which year over year is off the charts,” Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Brian Buckelew told KRON 4.

Bay City News noted in its report that the county saw 19 fentanyl-related deaths between Jan. and May 8, with only seven deaths in that time frame last year and 29 fentanyl-related deaths for all of 2019.

San Jose Inside noted that ages for the people who’ve died from fentanyl this year range from 16 to 56, though 10 of the people who died have been under the age of 25. 

The article also noted that health officials said “many of the deaths are related to fake pills made to resemble legitimate medications, but in fact have been laced with lethal doses of fentanyl,” which is 50-100 times more powerful than morphine. The fake pills linked to these incidents are stamped with 30 and M to mimic 30 mg doses of oxycodone, an opioid medication.

“No one should take a pill that was not obtained directly from a pharmacy,” county health officials said in a press release, according to San Jose Inside. “Pills given by a friend or bought from others also should not be taken. Taking any ‘off the street’ pills at home when alone is dangerous. Taking fake pills in any circumstance could have deadly consequences.”

Aside from claiming the lives of close to 100,000 Americans as of press time, COVID-19 has caused a range of ancillary issues. The spike in fentanyl deaths in Santa Clara County could be one of them.

“I do believe the shelter in place has played a role, in the past two to three months people have tended to use more of these substances,” Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Specialist Mira Parwiz told KRON 4. “We are seeing more substance abuse calls and overdoses.”

That said, the county is starting to fight back. Aside from offering a range of services for people struggling with fentanyl or opioid abuse—which can be obtained by calling the Behavioral Health Services Department at 800-488-9919, according to both San Jose Inside and Bay City News Service—the county, according to KPIX, has also been prosecuting people in recent months who dealt to overdose victims.