California DA pulls anti-fentanyl ad after admitting central anecdote about 6-year-old’s OD was fabricated

The Sonoma County, California, district attorney’s office pulled from its website an ad warning parents about the dangers that fentanyl poses for children after admitting a central anecdote in the clip was fabricated, according to reports.

The public service announcement featured audio from a supposed parent of a 6-year-old named Lisa, detailing how the little girl had been running around a playground in Sonoma County when she discovered a pile of the deadly synthetic opioid.

After touching the powerful drug, Lisa fell over and went limp, according to the PSA. 

After being approached by a NorCal Public Media reporter for evidence about a 6-year-old overdosing from merely touching the drug, Sonoma County DA Carla Rodriguez admitted the anecdote was “not based on a true story” and her office pulled the ad from its website. 

Rodriguez initially defended the public service announcement, which was created with assistance from a $340,000 grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance, NorCal Public Media reported.

“I am not concerned about people being too alert about the dangers of fentanyl,” she told the outlet.

She appeared to backpedal her stance, however, telling SFGate she did not “want to scare people” and that the ad was pulled over accuracy concerns. 

“We took it down because the part about her touching it and nothing else and then her dying does not seem factually accurate, so that’s why we took it down,” Rodriguez told the outlet.

Police and other law enforcement officials across the country have reportedly overdosed after being exposed to the powerful opioid on multiple occasions, but Dr. Ryan Marino, a medical toxicologist, insisted there’s no evidence merely touching fentanyl can cause drug poisoning. 

“It’s impossible. Accidentally touching powder fentanyl cannot cause an overdose in any way,” he told NorCal Public Media. 

The Sonoma County Coroner’s Office told NorCal Public Media there were no records of a child fatally overdosing after being exposed to fentanyl at a playground.

Last year, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency seized a record-breaking 386 million fentanyl doses nationwide, or enough to kill every person in America.

Fentanyl, which is 50 times more powerful than heroin, and other synthetic opioids caused nearly 70% of the estimated 12,600 fatal drug overdoses nationwide between June 2022 and June 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.