Counterfeit hydrocodone pills are being laced with fentanyl. Photo/El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office

By Claudia Buck and Samm Caiola, Sacramento Bee

The potent painkiller fentanyl widened its reach Thursday, as a new overdose case appeared and law enforcement officials confirmed the fentanyl-related death of an 18-year-old El Dorado Hills resident.

The March 28 death of George Berry, whose cause of death previously was listed as undetermined, now is linked to the recent rash of overdoses by pills or tablets containing fentanyl, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

Also Thursday, the UC Davis Medical Center reported that another patient is suffering from a fentanyl-related overdose – the center’s 17th case – according to a hospital spokeswoman.

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