Authorities yesterday confirmed that a Chico man who died of an overdose during a house party three weeks ago had ingested a lethal amount of Fentanyl.
Authorities Wednesday confirmed what they already suspected, that 34-year-old Aris Turner died of a drug overdose, the only fatality in an incident that stunned authorities, sending 14 people to the emergency room, including two police officers.
Michael O’Brien, chief of police in Chico speculated that at least half a dozen others were saved from deaths by prodigious use of Naloxone, or Narcan, an anti-overdose medication administered by firefighters, paramedics and police.
O’Brien said the cause of death was acute Fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine poisoning.
Fentanyl, a wildly potent narcotic, is becoming increasingly common as authorities crack down on oxycodone, other prescription narcotics and heroin.
Dr. Andy Miller, Public Health Officer for Butte County said the drug’s strength makes it especially dangerous.
“It’s about 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, so it’s very potent, it’s hard to say how much more potent it is than heroin because heroin is a street drug and there’s really no potency standards for it.” Miller said.
On the morning of January 12th, a Saturday, emergency dispatchers received a 911 call from a home where one or more party guests had become unresponsive. The incident ballooned into a mass overdose, leaving one dead and 14 hospitalized. The rest have since recovered.
Authorities did not disclose where or from whom the drug was procured or how it was ingested.
Thus far there have been no arrests.