An opioid-related overdose death in Erie County in September has been linked to a highly potent drug used to tranquilize elephants.
Buffalo police issued a warning Monday to the public about the sudden rash of overdose deaths that happened in different parts of the city.
The Erie County Health Department said last week that toxicology tests overseen by the County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the presence of carfentanil in the body of the victim. No details about the victim were released.
It’s the first time carfentanil, which has caused overdose deaths in other parts of the country, has been connected with a fatal overdose in Erie County.
Dr. Gale Burstein, county health commissioner, said in a news release that the discovery of the toxic and highly dangerous drug signaled “another phase in the opioid epidemic.”
Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl, according to the Health Department.
Veterinarians use the drug to anesthetize elephants and other large animals for surgery and other medical treatments. However, carfentanil that is diverted, stolen or manufactured overseas is being added as a cheap filler to cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and other illicit drugs.
The…
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