CLEVELAND: Carfentanil, an elephant tranquilizer that led to soaring numbers of overdoses and deaths last summer in Akron, has reappeared in Northeast Ohio. And this time, officials say, it’s disguised as a prescription drug.
Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson on Wednesday issued a public health warning in fear of more overdoses.
The carfentanil — which is 10,000 times more powerful than morphine — is disguised as prescription painkiller OxyContin, Gilson said. The Cuyahoga County Drug Chemistry Laboratory identified the pills after Cleveland police submitted them for testing.
“People who recreationally use OxyContin purchased from street sources should be aware of this very dangerous development that may result in rapid death,” Gilson said
These fake tablets are illegally manufactured to resemble OxyContin, but they’re about 5,000 times more potent.
If you depend on OxyContin from a pharmacy, the legal supply chain of tablets should not be affected, Gilson said.
Akron police in recent months have run into a similar issue. What appeared to be prescription drugs turned out to be heroin, investigators said recently.
The pills were the correct shape, size and color of prescription medications and carried the same markings.
But when police submitted them to a lab for testing, the fake pills turned out to be heroin, police said.