Robert De Niro’s daughter Drena stated that her son Leandro De Niro Rodriguez doubtless died final weekend after taking drugs that had been laced with fentanyl — a declare that, if true, would make him the most recent high-profile individual to die in what authorities say is a drug overdose epidemic that’s been pushed by the provision of the extremely potent artificial opioid.
“Somebody offered him fentanyl laced drugs that they knew had been laced but nonetheless offered them to him,” Drena De Niro alleged on Instagram Wednesday, in response to somebody asking how her son, 19, died over the weekend, Web page Six reported. Drena De Niro railed in opposition to all of the individuals who illegally promote and purchase fentanyl. “My son is gone without end,” she stated.
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, 19, was discovered useless Sunday in a New York Metropolis house the place he was staying. Studies by TMZ and the Each day Mail stated that authorities are investigating his loss of life as a attainable overdose and that medication and drug paraphernalia had been discovered close to his physique, stories stated.
Robert DeNiro’s 18 12 months previous grandson, Leondro, discovered useless alone in a Wall Avenue apt with a plate of “white powdery substance” close by. RIP 🕊😔https://t.co/Cr42kamIlc
— suzy (@Suzy_1776) July 3, 2023
It in all probability will take weeks for authorities to find out whether or not he died of a drug overdose and which medication had been concerned. Sadly, Drena De Niro’s assertion that her son might have unknowingly ingested fentanyl would could be per many documented drug overdoses that contain the opioid.
The drug is accepted by the Meals and Drug Administration to be used in severe ache aid, for instance by most cancers sufferers or folks struggling a extreme damage. The drug is roughly 100 instances stronger than morphine and 50 instances stronger than heroin.
Most opioid overdoses don’t contain fentanyl that’s administered in medically applicable settings, based on CNN. They’re as a result of fentanyl that’s offered illegally and that comes from clandestine laboratories.
As a result of fentanyl is so potent, taking even a small quantity might be lethal, stated Leana Wen, an emergency doctor and professor of well being coverage and administration on the George Washington College Milken Institute College of Public Well being. In an interview with CNN, Wen stated folks is probably not conscious they’re taking it as a result of drug sellers typically combine it with different illicit substances, comparable to heroin, benzodiazepines, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamines.
Wen additionally stated that fentanyl might be made into capsule kind, and it may be combined in with different counterfeit drugs. “Some folks might imagine they’re taking a much less potent opioid comparable to oxycodone, however they’re truly getting fentanyl,” she added.
Fentanyl has been implicated in numerous high-profile deaths lately, notably Prince in 2016, rapper Lil Peep in 2017, rapper Mac Miller in 2018 and “The Wire” actor Michael Okay. Williams in 2021. Final month, the Los Angeles County Medical-Examiner Coroner’s workplace decided that the loss of life of former baby actor Adam Wealthy — who was greatest recognized for his work on the Nineteen Seventies TV present “Eight is Sufficient” — was because of the results of fentanyl and dominated his loss of life unintentional, the Related Press reported.