This week, Attorney General Pam Biondi claimed President Trump had saved 119 million lives in the first 100 days of his administration through the nation’s drug seizure activities. Later in the day, in a cabinet meeting, she claimed the number of lives saved was 258 million.
This claim is based on the US seizing 22.2 million fentanyl pills in the first 100 days of 2025. How they got 119 million Americans out of 22.2 million pills, I can’t figure out their math.
But let me try. For 22.2 million pills to kill 119 million Americans, the pills would have had to have been split into five or six pieces each and then willingly given to 119 million American volunteers, who had all presumably signed a waiver that said not only would they ssnort or inject the poison*, they would agree not to be given naloxone when they stopped breathing, or accept any other resuscitation attempts.
Even then, you would have to assume that each pill contained at least 12 milligrams of fentanyl and that the fentanyl was evenly distributed within the pill. The DEA current estimates are that 5 out of 10 seized pills contain a potentially lethal dose of at least 2 milligrams. Part of the problem with why so many people are dying (87,000 in the 12 month period October 23 to September 24) is that the fentanyl is not evenly distributed in each pill. The amounts vary too widely for people to safely judge their dose. One pill might contain 12 milligrams, another none at all.
The 119 million or 238 million lives saved in 100 days claim does not give us much confidence in those at the top leading the fight, particularly given reports of a potential administration budget proposal to cut funding for naloxone and other overdose prevention programs.
Notes:
In 2024, the DEA seized 60 million fentanyl pills.
The US population was 341.7 million and counting as of May 1, 2025. 191 million is 55.9% of all people in the country. 258 million is 75.5% of them. If you are sitting at a table in a group of four people, look to your right, look in front of you, and look to your left. All three people sitting with you can thank the President for their life being saved from a fentanyl death today, according to the AG’s cabinet room claim.
*Swallowing a fentanyl pill is unlikely to produce death (unless there is a really high number of milligrams in the pill) due to the poor bioavailability of fentanyl through this route. Using fentanyl is much more deadly when injected or snorted.