Strathroy-Cardadoc Police warn public of possible ‘lethal fentanyl batch’

Strathroy-Caradoc Police are warning the public that potentially lethal fentanyl is being distributed in the area.

Within 24 hours, police say they attended one death suspected as a fentanyl overdose and saved three overdose victims with the opioid antidote naloxone.

Police say the person who died passed away in hospital after life-saving measures and naloxone were unsuccessful.

Officers say it is believed that all four people used the same fentanyl, and police say that the batch of fentanyl could be lethal.

Police and the regional coroner’s office are investigating the circumstances of the individual’s death.

In 2020, between January and March, Canada Public Health reported at least 1,018 deaths related to opioid overdoses, most of which happened in Ontario, accounting for 446 deaths.

In March, there was a call from physicians for a safer opioid supply to stop the rise in overdose deaths amid the pandemic.

“If safe supply were something that was readily available to people who use drugs, it would drastically increase their ability to stay put and stay in place, wherever they deem their home to be,” said Andrea Sereda, a family physician at the London InterCommunity Health Centre in London, Ont., in March.

— With files from Rachel Browne Global News