Not fake pills, death pills

Attorney General Todd Blanche used a White House briefing to reframe counterfeit pills. His point: calling them fake undersells what they actually do.

“When it comes to fentanyl, they're not fake pills. They're death pills.”

One pill killed her

Hayden Panettiere died suddenly last month at 36. TMZ reported the cause was an oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl, obtained from her longtime dealer.

A statute already exists

Blanche said federal law lets prosecutors charge the dealer if they can identify who sold the pill. The charge is not trafficking. It is murder.

“There's a federal statute that allows us to go after it.”

The burden of proof

Prosecutors have to show beyond a reasonable doubt that a specific dealer sold the specific pill to the person who died. That chain is the hard part.

“In the cases where we know who the dealer was, and we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person sold the death pill to the victim who then dies, that's a federal crime.”

Every district, every time

Blanche framed this as routine practice rather than a new initiative. He said the Justice Department brings these cases nationwide and intends to bring more.

“That's something that we will readily prosecute, as often as we can.”

No comment on her case

Blanche declined to discuss Panettiere's death specifically, speaking only about fentanyl generally. Whether anyone is charged in her case remains open.