Oregon health officials share alarming data on fentanyl overdose deaths

By Adrian Thomas

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    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — On Thursday, The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released new data showing a dramatic increase in drug overdoses, mostly due to fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate used to create fake prescription painkillers.

The report from OHA found that from 2019 to 2021, drug overdose deaths in Oregon more than doubled.

In that same time period, fentanyl-related overdoses jumped more than 600 percent.

FOX 12 first spoke to Oregon City resident Michele Stroh several months ago when she shared her story about her son, Keaton, who died after unknowingly taking a fentanyl-laced oxycontin pill almost two years ago. Since then she has worked to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl in her community.

“Seeing those hard numbers come out from OHA today was absolutely heartbreaking,” said Stroh.

The report also found that in 2021, a third of Oregon counties saw more people die from accidental fentanyl overdoses than any other drug. For Stroh, her message is simple: it’s vital parents and their kids be on the same page about the dangers of fentanyl, and how accidental overdoses can happen to anyone.

“As a mom who found her son dead, who was so cold and gone, you have to have that hard conversation.”

Stroh has worked to have that conversation in her local school district. She pushed for Oregon City to have Narcan or Naloxone on all its campuses. Naloxone is a drug that can be used to revive someone who has overdosed.

OHA’s report also found that last year almost half of all counterfeit pills made with fentanyl contained deadly amounts.

OHA also released in its report this stark warning about how dangerous fentanyl exposure can be:

Unless a pharmacist directly hands you a prescription pill, assume it is counterfeit and contains fentanyl. Assume any pills obtained from social media, the internet or a friend are counterfeit and contain fentanyl. If you are using pills, don’t use alone and always have naloxone on hand and visible. Test your drugs with fentanyl test strips before you use them. Fentanyl test strips can often be accessed at local harm-reduction sites.

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