A Korean-American doctor who lost her son to fentanyl is in the news for developing a drug test kit.
The online fundraising site GoFundMe recently posted the story of Jeanie Chung, a doctor in Denver, Colorado.
Chung said on her GoFundMe page that “TaeSun was the double bright light that brought laughter and joy to all those who basked in his warmth. Shockingly, fentanyl crushed this radiance in one swoop, vanquishing it from all our lives forever. Tragically, these sad stories continue to plague our society.”
Chung, a dermatologist, was motivated by her son’s death to work with fellow doctors to develop a fentanyl test kit. They named the device “Taesun” after her son, Jackson TaeSun Leddon (pictured).
Taesun was 19 years old when he lost his life to fentanyl in 2020.
TaeSun, who loved to play rugby, had been a student at the University of Kentucky and was set to transfer to the University of Colorado to be close to family.
Chung said, “He had exciting plans to return to his loving friends and family the next day from college. Unbeknownst to him, the substance he trustingly received contained enough fentanyl to kill a horse. No taste, no smell, or any other indication that the substance would abruptly end his life and take him away from all those he dearly loved.”
After losing her son in a matter of a day, Chung, as a doctor, began fighting to eradicate the fentanyl problem. She worked with doctors to develop a portable fentanyl test kit and raised money through GoFundMe. In August of 2023, Chung’s team received $100,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) receive the Stage 1 prize of mentoring from NIDA biomedical entrepreneurship experts. As of March 27, GoFundMe has raised nearly $20,000.
“It’s very important to educate young people about drugs, and we hope that the kit we are developing will provide a safety net for them,” said Chung. “We expect the fentanyl test kit to be available before the end of the year.”
Fentanyl abuse among young people is currently a significant problem. Fentanyl is especially problematic among teenagers because it is often found in the form of Adderall, a drug used to treat attention deficit, and Xanax, a drug to treat anxiety disorders. Parents are now teaching their children, “Don’t take Tylenol, even from friends or strangers outside.”
Meanwhile, fentanyl overdose deaths have nearly quadrupled in the past ten years.
In 2021, the number of fentanyl deaths nationwide (84,411) is more than 10 times the number of deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan in the same period. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Alberto Carvalho, General Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, has called the fentanyl problem among youth “a disaster and an epidemic.”
BY YEOL JANG, JUNHAN PARK [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com, park.junhan@koreadaily.com]
