Fourth grade students hospitalised after being given fentanyl-laced gummies
Two arrests have been made in connection the the fentanyl contaminated gummy bears
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Seven elementary school students in Virginia ate gummy bears that were in a sandwich bag that tested positive for fentanyl after one child brought them into school to share.
Five of the seven fourth graders were taken to hospital but have since recovered, Lieutenant Dallas Hill from the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The children who attended Central Elementary School in Amherst and were all in the same class experienced nausea, vomiting, headaches and muscle spasms and started getting these symptoms within the space of an hour of each other.
The overdose reversal drug Narcan was not administered to any of the children as none of them experienced any signs of finding it difficult to breathe, according to Bradley Beam, the public safety director for Amherst County Public Schools.
It is unclear how the child got ahold of the gummy bears, but the sheriff’s office believes that the incident was unintentional.
Nevertheless, two people have been arrested in connection with the incident that occurred on Tuesday, and police said they are continuing to investigate.
Clifford Dugan Jr and Nicole Sanders have been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and Ms Sanders has been given extra charges of possession of a controlled substance, Mr Hill said.
Mr Dugan also faces a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and is being held with no bond.
There is a possibility of more charges to come their way, Mr Hill confirmed.
The officer did say he could not reveal what the relationship was between those arrested and the child who bought in the bag, nor if they were known to law enforcement before.
Another baggy of gummy bears was also taken into school by the sibling of the other student, but tested negative for any substances.
The contamination of the candies is thought to have occurred at home on the way to school, Amherst School Superintendent William Wells said at the conference.
Fortunately, all the parents have told officials that the children are “doing well today,” Mr Wells said.
Mr Wells also homed in on how fentanyl is becoming a “community issue”, and that schools cannot just “suspend their way out of nor law enforcement car arrest its way out of” when coming across the harmful drug.
“We are asking our parents to take charge, wake up and realise this is happening because it’s here and it’s real,” Mr Wells said.
He reassured parents that their school was safe and they had cleaned the entire school after the incident.
Mr Beam followed Mr Wells’ plea to his parents by saying his force sees “overdose by opioids all the time, not just in this community but across the country.”
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, has created major crises in various communities across the US.
Over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl in the US, according to the CDC.