The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a on Monday warning of an "alarming increase" in lethal counterfeit pills containing fentanyl or methamphetamine.
The alert, the DEA's first in 6 years, aimed to raise awareness of a significant surge in fake pills mass-produced by criminal drug networks and marketed as legitimate prescription pills.
"The United States is facing an unprecedented crisis of overdose deaths fueled by illegally manufactured fentanyl and methamphetamine," DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, JD, said in a .
"Counterfeit pills that contain these dangerous and extremely addictive drugs are more lethal and more accessible than ever before," Milgram added. "In fact, DEA lab analyses reveal that two out of every five fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose."
So far this year, the DEA and other law enforcement officials have seized more than 9.5 million counterfeit pills -- already more than in the last 2 years combined.
Besides fentanyl, methamphetamine also is being pressed into counterfeit pills. Fake tablets are made to look like the prescription opioids oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), and also like alprazolam (Xanax) and amphetamines (Adderall). The pills often are sold on social media or e-commerce platforms.
The DEA alert comes as fatal overdoses in the U.S. are escalating. In July, the CDC estimated that 93,331 people had in 2020, a jump of 29.4% from the year before. Estimated opioid-related deaths climbed from 50,963 in 2019 to 69,710 in 2020, and overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) and stimulants like methamphetamine also rose.
This sharp increase dovetailed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and was visible in late 2020, when the CDC issued a Health Alert Network advisory to medical and public health professionals saying drug overdose deaths had soared to the highest number ever recorded in a 12-month period. The spike appeared to be driven largely by deaths involving synthetic opioids like illicitly manufactured fentanyl, according to the CDC.
Most counterfeit pills brought into the U.S. are produced in Mexico, with Chinese suppliers providing chemicals to manufacture fentanyl, the DEA said.
The alert does not apply to legitimate pharmaceutical medications prescribed by medical professionals and dispensed by licensed pharmacists, the agency emphasized.
"The legitimate prescription supply chain is not impacted," it stated. "Anyone filling a prescription at a licensed pharmacy can be confident that the medications they receive are safe when taken as directed by a medical professional."
The alert also coincides with the launch of DEA's campaign to educate people about the dangers of counterfeit pills.