Authorities issue emergency announcement after spike in overdose deaths in NE Wisconsin

OSHKOSH, Wis. (WBAY) - On behalf of the Winnebago County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office is distributing an emergency public service announcement after a spike in overdoses where counterfeit pills have been associated with the deaths.

According to the DEA, counterfeit pills are fake medications that have different ingredients than the actual medication. They may contain no active ingredient, the wrong active ingredient, or have the right ingredient but in an incorrect quantity.

Counterfeit pills may contain lethal amounts of fentanyl or methamphetamine and are extremely dangerous because they often appear identical to legitimate prescription pills, and the user is likely unaware of how lethal they can be.

Specifically in NE Wisconsin, law enforcement are seeing M30′s that are testing positive for fentanyl, and they are lethal. The Winnebago County Medical Examiner’s Office confirms that of the 15 overdose deaths thus far in 2023, 12 are attributed to fentanyl, with another 7 pending that are suspected to be fentanyl overdoses; more tragically, the victims are younger.

With the wide availability of opioid antagonists (like Narcan) there have likely been dozens, or perhaps hundreds of additional overdose events that could have been deaths associated with these counterfeit pills. Find out more here fake prescription pills by visiting https://www.dea.gov/

Questions can be directed to the Winnebago County Medical Examiner’s Office.