photo credit: Brian Krans 
A screenshot of the soco-onepillcankill.org website before the ad was taken down.

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office has pulled down a public service announcement from its website warning residents about the painkiller fentanyl. 

This comes after the California Newsroom inquired about the accuracy of the events depicted. 

District Attorney Carla Rodriguez isn’t quiet about Sonoma County’s fentanyl problem.

"in 2017 there was maybe 12 opioid related deaths and when the COVID pandemic hit, it increased by 566%," Rodriguez said in a radio spot produced for her office this fall, warning the public about the dangers of the potent opioid. 

And here’s another audio spot---this time from the DA’s website. 

Announcer: This is Lisa.

Lisa: She was a great kid. She loved horses. She wanted to play soccer

Announcer: and like many Sonoma County moms that afternoon she had taken her daughter to the playground. 

Lisa goes on to spell out a parent’s worst nightmare.

Lisa: We'd gone to the park that day and you know how kids are. She saw some white powder and touched it. That’s all she did… All of a sudden, something just wasn't right. Her pupils look like little dots.

The audio piece is titled 'Lindsey’s Story.'

Lisa: She then fell down and made this gurgling noise and then went limp. 

Listeners are then directed to the website SOCO one pill can kill dot com.

Lisa: She was only six years old. 

Announcer: This message is brought to you by the Sonoma County District Attorney's office

Lisa: Six years old.

It’s a heart-crushing and terrifying cautionary tale.

But, it’s not based on anything real. There’s no evidence to suggest that any child has ever died by simply touching fentanyl, let alone suddenly at a playground in Sonoma County.

"It's impossible. Accidentally touching powder fentanyl cannot cause an overdose in any way," said Dr. Ryan Marino. 

Marino is a medical toxicologist, emergency physician and addiction medicine specialist at Case Western Reserve University. 

"That's not something that's ever been reported," Marino said. "What a crazy amount of misinformation."

The Sonoma County Coroner’s Office says they have no record of a child dying from fentanyl exposure at a playground.

'Lindsey’s Story' was one of seven spots on the DA’s new website about fentanyl. 

The DA’s ad campaign was created with help of a $340,000 grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance, to “assist with the investigation and prosecution of opioid-related crimes committed in Sonoma County.” 

According to records we requested, the DA’s office contracted with Amaturo Sonoma Media Group. They own several commercial radio stations in the area, including KSRO talk radio, which has featured Rodriguez and real parents who have actually lost kids to fentanyl.

"He thought it was an oxycodone… and he had taken some the night before… and one pill did kill," according to one parent.

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The DA’s office paid Amaturo $46,000 dollars for help with the campaign. That included the company producing several radio spots with some of the parents interviewed on KSRO, and running them on its nine stations for six weeks. 

Steve DiNardo is Amaturo’s VP of sales. He said 'Lindsey’s Story' never aired on the radio, and admits it was fabricated.  

"We were trying to be creative," Amaturo said. "We're trying to elicit emotion. I think the campaign did a very good job of accomplishing that."

Emails we obtained show that DA Rodriguez was personally involved in creating the public service campaign, but she told us 'Lindsey’s Story' was entirely Amaturo’s creation. 

"It is not based on a true story," Rodriguez said.

We asked the DA if she had any concerns about the fake story being alarmist.  

"I am not concerned about people being too alert about the dangers of fentanyl," Rodriguez said. "Period. I am not."

'Lindsey’s Story' disappeared from the DA’s website shortly after we inquired about it. 

Marino, the toxicologist, assures parents that even if their child simply touched fentanyl, they wouldn’t overdose instantly like 'Lindsey’s Story' suggests. 

"The science is very sound," Marino said. "There has never actually been a case of this."

More importantly, Marino says, it’s extremely unlikely that it’s going to happen at a playground.

"There aren't just piles of fentanyl powder out in parks," Marino said..