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Hayden Panettiere took a pill that was allegedly laced with fentanyl on the day she died, according to a report.
The actress, who died at the age of 36 in Greenville, South Carolina, last month. allegedly took oxycodone laced with fentanyl, sources told TMZ.
Just a few grains of the powerful opioid, which is 50 times stronger than heroin, can cause a fatal overdose.
The mother-of-one bought several black-market prescription drugs, including oxycodone, from a 'longtime drug dealer' she had in Los Angeles, the outlet reported.
The star and her on-off real estate agent boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, had flown from the California city to South Carolina, where he is from, one day before she died.
TMZ reported that the actress took several drugs she purchased in Los Angeles on the flight. Authorities allegedly believe the pill she took the morning of her death was laced.
Hickerson administered Narcan, a medicine that quickly reverses an opioid overdose, to Panettiere after finding her unresponsive.
Police are now trying to trace the fatal pill back to the person who allegedly sold it to her, according to sources speaking to the outlet.
At this time, no one has been arrested in connection with Panettiere's death. Hickerson reportedly met with investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last week as they continued their probe into her death.
The DEA's involvement aligns with paramedics reporting a suspected overdose over dispatch calls. First responders located Narcan, a nasal spray used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose, inside the apartment where Panettiere was found dead.
Panettiere died at the end of a long struggle with alcohol and opiates, spending eight months in rehab in 2020 after contracting jaundice and being informed by her doctor that 'if I didn't stop drinking, I'd be dead within five years,' as she wrote in her memoir.
Hickerson was at the scene along with his brother Zachary when she was pronounced dead, according to a police report.
