Seven out of 10 pills seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration are laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told a group of law enforcement officials, health care leaders and others during a roundtable Wednesday at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. Other statistics, like the DEA seizing more than 80 million fentanyl-laced pills in 2023, rolled off his tongue as he addressed the crowd.
Another fact: the cartels are getting rich illegally manufacturing and selling the opioid while “our children are dying from this terrible drug,” he said.
This is a conversation Cornyn’s had many times but he’s hoping new legislation may help in defeating the fentanyl crisis — which has plagued North Texas communities as documented in The Dallas Morning News’ award-winning project “Deadly Fake.”
The Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act was introduced on Aug. 1 by Cornyn, Chris Coons, D-Del., Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., with the goal of targeting the pill press machines that have become a critical part of the fentanyl supply chain. According to Cornyn’s office, cartels have gained access to the same type of pill presses used by pharmaceutical companies and compounding pharmacies to mass produce counterfeit pills that are often indistinguishable from real medication.
This bill, which would amend the Controlled Substances Act, would require pill presses to be engraved with serial numbers in hopes it will make it easier for law enforcement to take action against those using the machinery to produce the deadly pills.
Cornyn said the bill is just a portion of the work being done to address the ongoing fentanyl problem, pointing to other efforts officials have made such as expanding access to fentanyl test strips and overdose-reversing drugs as well as providing training to the military on how to combat the cartels.
“Obviously we are playing a losing game so far, but I’m hopeful these bills will make at least an incremental step in the right direction in order to begin to turn the tide in this horrible, horrible epidemic,” Cornyn said.
Melody Gardner, managing director of the North Texas Poison Center at Parkland Health, said the center’s experienced a 430% increase in the number of fentanyl calls over the last five years. She said in the same timeframe there’s also been a year-over-year increase in the amount of positive fentanyl tests atParkland’s emergency department.
Gardner called the data the “tip of the iceberg” since only a fraction of cases are reported.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said his office is working in the courtroom and also directly with law enforcement agencies to combat the crisis.
Since the DA’s office began tracking cases in September 2022, there have been 1,457 fentanyl cases and nearly half have been resolved, he said. Creuzot highlighted recent cases, including when prosecutors secured a 30-year sentence in the first fentanyl dealing case tried and sentenced in front of a Dallas County jury and another defendant, who reached a plea deal and was sentencedto 25 years in prison after the overdose death of a teenage girl and overdoses of three other people.
“These convictions underscore the great threat that fentanyl poses to public health and safety,” he said. “We must continue our collaborative efforts to educate the public about the risks associated with opioids and ensure we are doing all our part to protect our communities from this dangerous and lethal drug.”
Fort Worth police Chief Neil Noakes said his department has seen the devastation fentanyl has had on North Texas as the department responded to about 489 calls for overdoses last year, with 80 of them being fatal.
“We know that it’s deadly but I think people need to understand how indiscriminate fentanyl is,” Noakes said. “Regardless of demographics, socioeconomic status, the ZIP code in which a person lives, fentanyl is touching so many lives and it can touch any life.”
Noakes said legislation, like the proposed Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act and the law enacted last year that allows someone to be charged with murder if they knowingly manufacture or distribute fentanyl that results in death, has been instrumental in working to get fentanyl and dealers off the streets.
Alongside officials, loved ones of victims who died from fentanyl poisoning have become advocates in educating others.
Amy Brewer of Duncanville and Stephanie Vaughn of Plano spoke about how the deaths of their daughters impacted their families and how they’re pushing for more resources to fight the epidemic.
Brewer and husband Mark Garbade, whose 21-year-old daughter Marissa Ladatto died in 2022 after taking a pill that was a mix of Percocet and fentanyl, founded the nonprofit Marissa’s Voice to spread awareness of the drug and honor her memory.
Vaughn’s 16-year-old daughter, Sienna, died in February 2023 after taking a pill she didn’t know was laced with fentanyl.
Vaughn said before Sienna’s death she didn’t know much about fentanyl or that it was impacting the community she lived in. Now, she and her husband Ryan are also working throughout the community to spread awareness about the drug to prevent more deaths like their daughter’s.
“It can happen to good families,” she said. “It can happen to you. Don’t ever say, ‘Not my child.’”
At one point, Vaughn thanked Cornyn for wearing the bracelet Ryan gave him last year.
Cornyn softly smiled at her as she continued speaking, later pulling up the cuff on his dress shirt to reveal the gray rubber bracelet with a reminder of what everyone in the room is up against: “One Pill Can Kill.”
