TUESDAY, May 7, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Lab tests of counterfeit oxycodone (Oxycontin) pills seized by police in Rhode Island in 2022 found 99.3% also contained dangerous fentanyl.
It was typically mixed with another potentially deadly drug, xylazine.
Both drugs make overdose more likely and more fatal, experts note.
As too many American families have tragically come to know, “counterfeit prescription pills have been associated with adverse outcomes, including fatal overdose,” said a team of researchers led by Dr. Rachel Wightman. She’s associate professor of epidemiology and emergency medicine at Brown University in Providence, RI.