A deadly, cheap and accessible drug called acrylfentanyl, one of the newest and most powerful drugs on the streets, is making its way to Wisconsin.
It's latest version of fentanyl, and it has killed dozens so far this year in nearby Chicago.
"It is one of the super opioids," said Dr. M. Riccardo Colella, director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services for Milwaukee County.
More than 40 people have already died this year from it in Chicago, and now one acrylfentanyl death has been confirmed in Janesville.
"It's new, it's one of the newest fentanyl substances to appear in the United States and here in Wisconsin and it's just as scary and just as troubling as the other varieties," said Assistant Special Agent Robert Bell of the DEA.
The drug is so new the DEA has not yet been able to classify it as a narcotic. Acrylfentanyl is an opioid created in a laboratory, usually produced in Asia. It took seconds for TODAY'S TMJ4 to find websites that will deliver it straight to your door step.
"The fact it is available online should terrify parents and caregivers," Bell said.
Janesville police said last month a woman in her 30s bought what she thought was heroin. It ended up being acrylfentanyl, and she died before responders could revive her. Situations like this are what Colella fears.
"There's no ability for the user to know if in fact this is standard heroin, if it's heroin mixed with fentanyl or acrylfentanyl or any of the other synthetic opioids," Colella said.
To save someone from a heroin overdose, emergency responders usually need one dose of the overdose drug, naloxone or narcan. For fentanyl, it can usually take two or three doses to revive a person. For acrylfentanyl, responders need 16 doses.
"If a patient had a significant overdose or used a particularly potent opioid it might require more doses than the paramedics carry," Colella said.
The only way a person can to survive an acrylfentanyl overdose is in a hospital hooked up to a respirator. First responders say despite the need for more doses, the drug is not narcan or naloxone resistant. Enough narcan, plus rescue breaths and CPR, can keep a person alive long enough to get them to the hospital.
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