Fentanyl not linked to more DuPage heroin deaths

Toxicology test results have confirmed the painkiller fentanyl was not a factor in four of the seven heroin overdose deaths in DuPage County that occurred during roughly a three-week stretch from mid-September to early October, Coroner Rich Jorgensen said.

Test results last week found fentanyl in the bodies of three overdosed patients: a 36-year-old man from St. Charles, a 25-year-old man from Darien and a 48-year-old man from Burr Ridge, all of whom died in DuPage County in September or October.

During that time, 74 people were treated in Chicago hospitals for heroin overdoses during a 72-hour span, leading officials to determine that some batches of heroin sold in isolated areas on the city's West and South sides were laced with the painkiller fentanyl.

Jorgensen said it's "good news" to hear fentanyl did not play a role in any more than these three deaths, especially as the county already has seen at least 30 confirmed heroin deaths this year.