'San Diego’s Most Wanted' Taps ME’s Office Expertise

Fox 5 reporter Lynn Stuart interviews Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Jon Lucas for the show "San Diego's Most Wanted."

Prescription drug abuse is the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. and San Diego County, even surpassing the number of motor vehicle fatalities. Who sees this trend first-hand? For one, the County’s Medical Examiner’s Office; and reporter Lynn Stuart from Fox 5’s San Diego’s Most Wanted interviewed our Dr. Jonathan Lucas to get his take on why the numbers have grown. In the last ten years, he’s seen the number of prescription drug-related deaths nearly double.  

The Medical Examiner’s Office investigates thousands of unnatural deaths a year whether they were caused by homicides, suicides, accidents, or the sudden unexpected deaths of people who were not recently under a doctor’s care.

Dr. Lucas is the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, the second-in-command at the department. Part of his job involves tracking trends. The growing problem with prescription drug abuse prompted the Medical Examiner’s Office, the Sheriff’s Department and Health & Human Services Agency to work together to educate the community about the problem and how to prevent it from getting worse.  

Most cases involve people in their 40’s and 50’s who suffer from chronic pain and become addicted to pain medication, but he also sees young people who have died from abusing prescription drugs. “One of the big problems among young people is access,” said Lucas. “The common way for them to get these drugs is from the medicine cabinet at home.” They may find leftover Oxycontin pills and in time become addicted. When they can’t afford it anymore, they switch to heroin and die from it.

Stuart says San Diego’s Most Wanted appeals to a younger audience and the segment on prescription drug abuse deaths may hit home. The program is scheduled to air on Fox 5 Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and repeat the following day at 11 p.m.