Fentanyl Suspected in 3 Haight-Ashbury Overdose Deaths
3 overdose victims were found lying in the street in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district this week. Authorities are still investigating details.
As reported by CBS SF Bay Area, the bodies of three men were discovered early Thursday on the sidewalk near a high school in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district in what appears to be a case of deadly drug overdoses, authorities said.
San Francisco police spokesman Officer Robert Rueca said his agency got call at 4:35 a.m. reporting the discovery of three males who were unresponsive along Page Street near the Urban School of San Francisco.
Rachel Kagan, a spokeswoman for the city’s health department, said the deaths may have been caused by an overdose of fentanyl, a powerful opioid which has been fueling an epidemic of fatal overdoses nationwide.
“We do not have confirmation at this time of the cause of death, but we are concerned about the possibility of fentanyl poisoning,” said Kagan. “We will be contacting health care providers and the drug user community to ensure they are aware of the dangers of fentanyl and know how to take precautions.”
Fentanyl often kills before emergency responders even have a chance to help. “If we are lucky enough, to be able to bring them back to the point where they can tell us what happened, they’ll say I took a pill and it looks exactly like my other pills,” said Dr. Hallam Gugelmann of San Francisco’s CPMC St. Luke’s Hospital.
Are you or a loved one struggling with addiction, lying to yourself and others? Don’t wait any longer to ask for help. In today’s environment, you never know when your next dose will be your last!
To read more about the latest overdose deaths in San Francisco, please visit CBSLocal.com.