Wisconsin Reports First Death Attributed To Carfentanil

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office says a highly potent opioid has killed a man in Milwaukee — the first death attributed to carfentanil in Wisconsin.

Experts say the drug is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times more potent than heroin. Carfentanil is used to tranquilize large animals. Forty-eight-year-old James Kinnee was found dead March 22 at the home of a construction co-worker after ingesting the drug.

The medical examiner's forensic director, Sara Schreiber, says carfentanil cases across the country are linked to heroin. And, a user may not be aware it's been added to heroin, so its potency is unknown.

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