PORTLAND, Ore. — Two 1-year-olds and one 3-year-old have all overdosed on fentanyl in separate incidents in the past two weeks, according the Portland Police Bureau, prompting the agency to warn the public about what it calls a "concerning trend."
Police did not release information about the conditions of the children, citing ongoing investigations, but said the three incidents were unrelated and that each case involved a child exposed to fentanyl that had been left unsecured in their home.
Overdoses involving young children are not unheard of, but Portland Police Bureau Captain Jake Jensen said it isn't common to have so many young victims in such a short time span. All three case are being investigated by the Narcotics and Organized Crime unit.
The first incident happened on the morning of June 15 in Southeast Portland, the second on the afternoon of June 19 in Northeast Portland and the third on June 25 in Southeast Portland, police said. PPB did not release the specific locations, again citing the ongoing investigations.
“Going to those calls where kids have been harmed, it’s very impactful,” Jensen said.
Pills, especially brightly colored ones, can resemble candy to children, police said, and even a small amount of fentanyl residue can be lethal in toddlers due to their smaller bodies and lack of opioid tolerance.
PPB urged users to immediately take steps to prevent children from accessing fentanyl or other controlled substances, recommending that people follow safe storage guidelines from the CDC and OHSU.
Other recent incidents
Another similar incident occurred in March, when a Beaverton 2-year-old was hospitalized due to a suspected fentanyl overdose. Officers who were called to the scene found the toddler unconscious, not breathing and with no pulse, Beaverton police said at the time.
They administered multiple doses of Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses, and the child regained consciousness and was taken to a hospital. A Beaverton police official said the incident involved fentanyl in a pill format that the 2-year-old likely believed to be edible.
Fentanyl can be fatal for adults as well, even in very small doses, and the Portland region has seen multiple recent incidents of fatal overdoses among teenagers and young adults, many of whom who took prescription painkiller pills that they did not realize were actually counterfeits laced with fentanyl.
Griffin Hoffmann, a 16-year-old student at Portland's McDaniel High School, overdosed and died last year after taking what he apparently believed was an M30 oxycodone pill. School officials said he was the second student in less than 24 hours to die from a counterfeit pill containing fentanyl.
And just this week, the parents of a Portland 22-year-old came forward to share the story of their son's death. Tristan Schiess overdosed and died 48 hours after obtaining what he thought were oxycodone pills from a pharmacy in Mexico while on a family cruise last year.
The PPB Narcotics and Organized Crime unit has launched 137 suspected overdose death investigations so far this year in Portland, police said.