Lollapalooza festivalgoers handed new device to detect fentanyl in drugs

By Marissa Sulek

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — Amid concerns about overdoses and dangerous drugs, Lollapalooza festivalgoers were supplied with a new device that detects fentanyl.

Doctors at Rush University Medical Center said they anticipate to see anywhere from 10 to 20 extra patients a day in the emergency during Lolla. Some come in for drug overdoses, which could include fentanyl, and the company that makes the new device is trying to change that.

The device, called Defent, is a stick that resembles a thumb drive. It has the power to detect the smallest grain of fentanyl almost instantly.

Nico Macaione said it came in handy when he went to a Central Illinois music festival this year.

“Somebody was like: ‘Hey, like I came across this. It’s Defent. It’s a fentanyl testing kit, like, better safe than sorry, right?'” said Macaione.

Unlike Narcan, which may help if someone tries to overdose, Defent prevents that from happening.

Users scoop up part of the drug, drop it into the device, and shake it. Results on the side will say if it contains fentanyl.

“Unfortunately, I’ve lost both family, friends from fentanyl poisoning,” said Ahmad Hussain, president and chief executive officer of Defent.

Hussain said it took three years to create Defent, with 57 prototypes, and the device just launched back in December.

The purpose is to meet drug users where they are at.

“You’re not going to stop drugs from coming into the country,” Hussain said. “They’ve never done that.”

While the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said opioid deaths went down last year, 87% of the opioid deaths in the county in 2024 last year involved fentanyl.

Dr. Antonia Nemanich at Rush University Medical Center said overdoses at Lolla are not common, but they do happen.

“When I was working at UIC, we did see like one or two of those,” Nemanich said.

Macaione said while he has never encountered fentanyl, Defent could save lives.

“We can know, and it’s not really like we’re a bunch of guinea pigs,” he said.

Defent said while people might think its device is for the more illicit party drugs, it is also for counterfeit drugs that appear to be from a pharmacy, which can also contain fentanyl.

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