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Medical Examiner: Florida man who died after eating raw oysters had coke and fentanyl in his system

Food Kitchenwise Oysters
This Nov.30, 2015 photo shows cocktail sauces, from left clockwise, cocktail sauce, ginger wasabi sauce, and mignonette sauce in Concord, NH. One of Valentine’s Day’s enduring customs is to launch the annual Feast of Love with a dozen raw oysters on the half shell washed down with a chilled bottle of bubbly. The briny bivalves have long enjoyed a reputation as an aphrodisiac. (AP Photo/Matthew Mead)

(FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA) — UPDATE:  A south Florida man who died after eating raw oysters last month at a Broward restaurant had several drugs in his system, including fentanyl and cocaine, according to the Broward County medical examiner’s report.

Roger “Rocky” Pinckney also tested positive for cannabis, oxycodone, and opiates after his death on July 31, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner, WTVJ reported.

Along with the detection of the drugs, Pinckney’s blood tested positive for vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria found in warm seawater that can cause illness, the report said.

The unidentified man got a bacterial infection, Vibrio, after eating the raw shellfish this month at the Rustic Inn Crabhouse in Fort Lauderdale on Anglers Ave near the airport.

According to the CDC, “Vibriosis causes an estimated 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the United States every year. People with vibriosis become infected by consuming raw or undercooked seafood or exposing a wound to seawater. Most infections occur from May through October when water temperatures are warmer.”

According to the Florida Department of Health website, there have been 26 cases in 2022 of people in Florida who have been infected with the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus. Six of them became ill and later died.

Another person in Pensacola became ill and died last week after consuming oysters that had come from Louisiana.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that an oyster containing Vibrio, “will not look, smell or taste different from other oysters.”

The restaurant’s manager says he feels horrible about the man’s death, but health officials did inspect the restaurant after the man got sick, and the restaurant passed with flying colors.

He adds that this case is just one in a billion.