KCBD Investigates: Lab results show 4 out of 10 pills seized in Lubbock contain fatal dose of fentanyl

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The KCBD Investigates team has confirmed at least one non-fatal Fentanyl overdose has occurred at a Lubbock area school.

The City of Lubbock Health Department said it does not have details on the incident and is working to learn more about overdoses in the community.

Trying to get an exact number of overdoses whether fatal or not, has proved challenging for health officials and law enforcement.

“I think it’s difficult for a lot of reasons. If somebody were to overdose, but it was non-fatal, they might not go to the doctor so there may not be a record of it. Even if there was a record of it, it’s not all in a centralized location. So, You would need to look through medical statistics, death statistics, to kind of be able to put together a full picture, and we just don’t have that,” Miller said.

Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe said he does not have concrete numbers either.

“What we don’t have is a centralized way to track it,” Rowe said. “We have got to set somebody in a central position that can actually track it, go back, and follow up once we have toxicology reports.”

While the sheriff does not have statistics on overdoses, he knows fentanyl is a major problem in Lubbock, just based on what his deputies are finding on the streets.

“With fentanyl, it’s everywhere,” Rowe said.

Rowe said while some are taking fentanyl intentionally, others are learning, and some too late, that whatever they are taking is laced with the dangerous drug.

“When I was talking to one of our treatment providers in Amarillo, she has had a lot of people admitted test positive for fentanyl and not even realize they were using it,” Miller said.

Rowe said the counterfeits look almost identical to the real thing.

“What we are seeing in recent testing results we have had is that four out of 10, or forty percent of pills we are seeing contain a lethal dose,” Rowe said. “This stuff is a one time; you take it and it could kill you.”

Shaley Sanders KCBD NewsChannel 11.

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