Fox News pushes debunked myth that you can overdose just by touching Fentanyl

Maria Bartiromo, ignoring DEA and scientific consensus, lets Rep. Kevin McCarthy lie about fentanyl OD's

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the September 11, 2022, edition of Fox News' Sunday Morning Features

MARIA BARTIROMO (HOST): You talk about all of these issues and you would think that these issues we all agree on. I mean, the border, for example. Talk to us about what happened in your district. A young person, 13 years old, went to school with drugs in the backpack. What happened? 

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (CA-23): This is so devastating, but it just happened in Bakersfield, California, but don't think that your city is not a border city today. Every single city in America is now a border city based upon the Democratic policies of bringing millions of people across this border from 160 different countries. But it's not just people. It's terrorists. And now it's drugs.

Fentanyl is the number one killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. But in a junior high, we're talking about 13 year olds. A 13 year old brought 150 fentanyl pills disguised as another drug. When it was discovered, the counselor there luckily discovered it when he picked the pills out, he OD'd, not because he took the pills, simply because it touched him. That is how dangerous this is.

This is happening in every single community in America, but our White House is doing nothing. That's why we need a new plan, a new direction for America that not only secures our border, but lowers our gas price, makes us energy independent, and it also brings us safe and secure in our streets. We're not safe to walk out any more because the Democratic policies actually caused the problem. Defunding of the police not prosecuting this no bail program. We want a new direction and that's what a commitment to America will do.

BARTIROMO:These are issues that we all should be agreeing on. I mean, it's so ridiculous that we don't agree that a wide open border is dangerous. Here we are on September 11th and we're remembering 60 or 80 people got to the southern border and they were on the terrorist watch list. 

There is no valid basis to Rep. McCarthy's claim. Overdosing on fentanyl after accidental skin exposure is impossible.

Local news reports do not mention the Bakersfield, CA, junior high counselor overdosing; First Responders administered NarCan after the potential exposure, in line with the DEA's first responder guidance: “Incidental skin contact may occur during daily activities but is not expected to lead to harmful effects if the contaminated skin is promptly washed off with water.”