OWN TV host Dr Laura Berman warns parents of opioid crisis following apparent fentanyl overdose of teenage son

TV host Dr. Laura Berman is warning parents of teenagers about the alarming and rising rate of opioid-related deaths in America, just days after discovering her teenage son died of an apparent overdose.

Berman spoke to Fox News on Tuesday from her home in Santa Monica, Calif., Where on Sunday she found her son Samuel “Sammy” Berman Chapman dead nearly an hour after her husband, Samuel Chapman, delivered lunch to her. in his room. Paramedics were unable to revive the teenager and information found at the scene shows Sammy may have been in communication with a drug dealer on the Snapchat app. He is believed to have suffered an apparent overdose after taking Xanax or Percocet containing fentanyl. Toxicology reports are still pending.

“Like a lot of teenagers, especially boys but also girls, who are filled with hormones and feel immortal and infallible and are stuck at home, bored, stiff and trying to connect, [Sammy] did something stupid, ”Berman recalls.

With help from the Narcotics Division of the Santa Monica Police Department, Berman and her husband, Samuel Chapman, attempt to piece together what happened. She said a screenshot of Sammy’s Snapchat account appears to show he was in communication with a drug dealer who provided a “marketing card” of the drugs and prices. Berman said she believed the drug dealer delivered laced drugs to Sammy, but that her son had not intended to use fentanyl.

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“I know he didn’t know he was taking fentanyl. He wasn’t interested; he was afraid of it. He didn’t actively understand addiction and didn’t want to become addicted yet, unfortunately most American teens are experimenting with these fentanyl-containing products, investigational drugs that are believed to be relatively innocent, ”she said.

Berman said she and Chapman had an open dialogue with Sammy about drugs when they first found out about his cannabis use. She said the couple “didn’t encourage or allow him” and “watched him very carefully.” Berman and Chapman have two more sons: Jackson, 15, and Ethan, 23.

“The kids think, ‘Oh, I can just take this once and I won’t get hooked” or “I can try this once to see what it feels like,” not knowing it’s going to kill them, “Berman warned. . “They need to know that these dealers they meet are probably giving them products that contain fentanyl. It’s really easy for anyone to overdose, but especially a teenager.”

In conversations with authorities, Berman said she had learned even more about how America’s opioid crisis was a pandemic “long before COVID-19”.

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“We know this has been a pandemic but silent,” Berman said. “It’s incredibly addicting and brain-destroying and life-changing and almost impossible to beat. The level of deaths and suicides, even from the sheer pain of trying to get sober, is simply astronomical.”

The host of the “Language of Love” podcast said she has learned that there have been 200 deaths in the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) school system in the past year, which appear be due to an overdose of fentanyl. Her warning to parents as well as herself is to use her son’s death as a “teachable moment.”

“Don’t think your child is safe just because they are running home with you,” Berman said. “Even if your teenager doesn’t really give you credibility and listen to you, he cares deeply about what is going on with his peers. If they can relate to my son and see themselves in him and see what happened to him, use Use it to reach your children. “

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Hours after posting her son’s death on Instagram, Berman said she was “overwhelmed” by “hundreds” of stories of like-minded parents whose children have died of drug overdoses, especially drugs. counterfeit.

Approaching Berman and his family to seek more answers about what was in Sammy’s system and its many facets. In addition to one day becoming an advocate for the opioid pandemic, Berman said she believes big tech companies like Snapchat can do more.

“What we need is Snapchat and Twitter and all platforms to help the police catch the predators who kill our kids. Snapchat is very clear that they don’t support drug trafficking and I’m sure that every time their algorithm finds a page advertising drug trafficking, they delete it, but that doesn’t stop the drug dealer. They’re like moles. They just show up with a new count seconds later ” , she says.

Snapchat released a statement Monday in response to Sammy’s death.

“Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of Samuel Berman Chapman and we are saddened by his passing,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We are committed to working with law enforcement in this and all cases where Snapchat is used for illegal purposes. We have zero tolerance for using Snapchat to buy or sell illegal drugs.”

The spokesperson said the company is “constantly improving” its capabilities to detect drug-related activity. Berman, however, said authorities informed her that apps like Snapchat rarely help identify drug traffickers. Instead, they are simply looking to delete the account.

“We haven’t heard of [Snapchat.] Any parent blames themselves more than anything else. Snapchat did not deliver the drugs to my son’s door. What I hold Snapchat accountable for is catching whoever did it and those who are doing it to other kids and parents across the country, ”she said.

Berman added: “I don’t hold them responsible for his death but I hold them responsible for his justice.”

A Snapchat rep did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

“The cops say there is a rash of what’s going on. They find dead children everywhere and we weren’t the first to go through this tragedy,” said the heartbroken mother.

Berman said he found his son dead Sunday on his Instagram. “My beautiful boy is gone. 16 years old. Take shelter at home,” she wrote on Instagram, with a photo of her and her son kissing. “My heart is completely broken and I don’t know how to keep breathing. I am posting this now only so that no more children die.

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“A drug dealer connected with him on Snapchat and gave him fentinyl [sic] laced up Xanax or Percocet (toxicology will tell) and he overdosed in his room. They do this because it hooks people up even more and is good for business, but it causes an overdose and the kids don’t know what they’re taking, ”her social media post continued.

Bill Bodner, the special agent in charge of the DEA in Los Angeles, told Fox 11 that what happened to Sammy was happening to other children across the United States.

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He said the counterfeit pills being disseminated on social media are designed to look like the real Xanax or other types of drugs, but are usually fentanyl – which can be deadly.

“This is something that is made in a dirty clandestine laboratory in Mexico. There is no quality control. The dosage is extremely inconsistent. It only takes 2.5 mg of fentanyl to kill you,” he said. Bodner at the station.

The ‘In the Room with Dr Laura Berman’ host added that the pandemic adds to the pressure and tribulations children across the country face as they are stuck at home, out of school due to the pandemic. coronavirus rather than at school with their peers. They are turning more and more to communication on social media, she said.

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Berman, who reminded Fox News of Sammy’s good grades, her love of science and her desire to go to college and travel to Europe, said she ultimately decided to speak up to raise awareness among the public.

“I felt so helpless and full of rage on top of the grief. I just thought, I’m going to post this to my people because if I can save a child tonight, it will be worth it,” she concludes.

David Aaro of Fox News contributed to this report.