An illegal form of the drug Fentanyl is blamed for causing overdoses in six people in Lebanon County, killing one of them, all in the span of just two weeks.
“I’ve been here for 25 years, I’ve never have seen the number of overdoses in a short period of time,” said Dr. Jeffrey Yocum, Lebanon County Coroner.
Lebanon County District Attorney David Arnold said someone is manufacturing and selling Fentanyl in a powder form to resemble and be used like heroin.
The first person to overdose arrived at the hospital on May 22nd. Five more people followed and of the six, one man died. All of the patients were in their twenties.
“To see that many overdoses in that short period of time, it’s really kind of caused some alarm,” Arnold said.
Prescription Fentanyl is used in patch form to treat chronic pain. The illegal Fentanyl police are finding is far more potent than heroin.
“A heroin addict using a normal amount, as the district attorney would say, five bags. If they would use five bags of this, would lead to death,” Dr. Yocum said.
Investigators do not know yet where the drugs are coming from, but they do know people are selling it in Lebanon County.
The overdoses happened in Lebanon city and the northern part of the county.
“We will get to the bottom of what exactly is happening here,” Arnold said. “Hopefully it doesn’t become a bigger problem than what it has been so far, but we really want to cut it off.”
Arnold is asking for the public’s help with this investigation. He’s asking anyone with information that could be helpful to investigators to call any law enforcement agency in Lebanon County. You can remain anonymous.