Posted on 03/04/2026 5:45:03 AM PST by Salman
Some Illinois lawmakers want to rebrand fentanyl deaths as “poisoning” instead of “overdose,” but coroners say the change would force them to lie on death certificates.
Senate Bill 3014 would direct coroners and medical examiners to classify deaths involving fentanyl as “poisoning” instead of “overdose.” Under the bill, each fentanyl-related death would have to be reported separately to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and the department would be required to publish these fatalities distinctly in its monthly overdose reports, rather than grouping them with other drug overdoses.
The bill’s sponsor Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris), says the change is intended to reduce stigma and give families a more accurate way to describe the deaths of loved ones who unknowingly ingested fentanyl-laced substances.
“Too many angel families feel forced into silence because of the stigma surrounding… ‘overdose death,’” Rezin said. “This bill helps to elevate the conversation…and give families some peace in properly describing what happened to their loved ones, by renaming or reclassifying their death as a poisoning,” Rezin told The Center Square.
David Harris, coroner of Fayette County and president of the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association, called the proposal “basically lying.”
...
(Excerpt) Read more at cwbchicago.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
So it is a murder.
Why only fentanyl?
If they are making such a change it should be for all overdoses/”poisonings”
Poisoning is more accurate if the victim is unaware they are ingesting fentanyl.
Street pills sometimes considered “ safe” such as percodin or oxy….are laced with fentanyl by dealers. Why they kill their customers…I do not know.
Profit? Sadism? Psychopathy?
I am aware of several young victims who sought pain relief from buying street pills because after being injured in auto accidents, they could not get a prescription refill, and got death by fentanyl.
It was not an intentional overdose
“The bill’s sponsor Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris), says the change is intended to reduce stigma and give families a more accurate way to describe the deaths of loved ones who unknowingly ingested fentanyl-laced substances”
Enough! “Reducing stigma” is how we got HIPPA. It is how we have a tainted blood supply. It is the reason we have DEI. It is responsible for “press 1 for English. I was not surprised it was a woman sponsoring this. I was a little surprised she was Republican. The bill is more likely to artificially reduce the number of fentanyl deaths in an effort to alter statistics without actually altering statistics. Also to claim Trump’s efforts against the cartels are blown out of proportion. This is on the same plane as trying to call pedos “MAP”, or minor attracted people. Fear of stigma kills.
I don't understand the issue. People took too much fentinyl , they were accidentally poisoned.
why not separate which drug killed a person instead of just saying all are Overdoses?
Ill bet alcohol gets its own category!! And should be broken down into beer, wine, whiskey, tequila, gin, rum, vodka, boones farm, and all the others.
Which booze is most likely to kill someone? Or get someone killed? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😗😗😗
Stigma is very important. It stops some people from doing things that may result in stigma. Out of wedlock pregnancies, for example, were destigmatized. The incidence rate of out of wedlock pregnancies exploded. It became normal to have babies without marriage. I’d argue that was a huge degradation of the culture. (Maybe THAT is the intent.)
Unlike someone who smokes laced Crack or shoots laced drugs to get high.
Quite.......what is the difference which ‘pill’ a suicide uses?
Similar to what they did with COVID.
Passenger in a plane crash but tested positive for COVID? Cause of death - COVID.
Like ‘redefining’ male and female, or lumping hispanics into whites for crime statistics, this is just the latest example of liberals redefining reality to fit an agenda.
Stigma isn’t the issue. The issue is that these are often fake medications that kill. The pushers can then be put up on murder charges or manslaughter charges & reality is that they are murdering their customers intentionally or otherwise.
Lead poisoning is very common in Chicago every weekend.
If an illicit substance - in this case fentanyl - is added to another drug and it facilitates death due to its strength - which may defined as ‘toxicity’ - then it technically IS ‘poisoning’.
Case in point:
An ME who classifies an alcohol related death, which is recorded as ‘alcohol poisoning’ rather than ‘overdose’.
Such a classification does not blur the line between CoD & criminality re ‘accidental’ or ‘intentional’ poisoning but does clarify the CoD IMHO.
This is a bad idea. Overuse of any drug in large quantities is poisoning. And drug addicts and alcoholics will ingest anything to get a high. They inhale spray paint and drink Sterno. Calling death by fentanyl an overdose is accurate because it best fits the facts. A person took the fentanyl to get high and died because of it. Its sad that it happened but it was their decision to take the fentanyl.
Illinois, where the legislture taxes, spends, and passes other laws to cover up their crimes.
Why only fentanyl?
If they are making such a change it should be for all overdoses/”poisonings”
This is a very good question.
Right. Stigma implies shame, and shame is a useful means of maintaining public order. The loss of shame in our present culture is reflected in the deterioration of behavior into disorderly, antisocial conduct and speech into public obscenity. The community is the worse for losing shame as a part of its social exoskeleton.
Unknowingly ingested fentanyl? I would guess that number is quite small.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.