Aug. 31, 2023, 1:03 PM EDT
The number of people who have overdosed and died from fake prescription pills has more than doubled in recent years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
The majority of those deaths were among people younger than 35, who were taking what they thought was oxycodone or Xanax, it said.
But the drugs obtained did not come from a legitimate pharmacy; they were bought on the street, in classrooms or from friends. The counterfeit pills may look like the real deal, but are usually made from a variety of unknown ingredients.
“People are pressing pills and even gummies” in ways that look legitimate, said Tonja Myles, an addiction expert and community engagement adviser with Huntsman Mental Health Foundation in Salt Lake City.
Very often, however, they’re laced with deadly levels of fentanyl.
“People don’t always know what’s in them,” said Julie O’Donnell, an author of the new report and an epidemiologist in the CDC’s division of overdose prevention. “The risk of overdose is heightened among people who think that they’re using legitimate pharmaceutical pills.”
The CDC report, released to coincide with International Overdose Awareness Day, found that from mid-2019 to the end of 2021, overdose deaths involving counterfeit drugs more than doubled, from 2% to 4.7%.
The numbers, which O’Donnell said are “definitely an underestimate,” come from the CDC’s state unintentional drug overdose reporting system. The system relies on information gathered from death certificates, coroner’s reports, toxicology reports and witness accounts.
Illicit fentanyl was detected in 93% of all overdose deaths involving fake pills. More than half of the deaths — 57.1% — occurred among people younger than 35.
Jake Carter of Noblesville, Indiana, reportedly thought he was taking oxycodone when he went to bed Jan. 2, 2021, the day before his 24th birthday.
By all accounts, he was looking forward to the new year. His fiancee, Kaylee Dugger, 24, was pregnant.
“He was excited for his birthday. He was excited to be a dad. He was excited to get married,” she said.