A Kentucky woman visiting Nashville ended up in the hospital after reportedly picking up a dollar bill from the ground.
Renee Parsons and her husband Justin were at a fast food restaurant on Highway 70 in Bellevue when she noticed a stray dollar bill on the ground, per WKRN. She picked it up, thinking she just got lucky, but her luck soon ran out as her husband said she passed out not long after.
"She looked like she was dying," he said. "She certainly was unconscious and very pale."
Renee recalled feeling numb after picking up the bill, saying she "couldn't even breathe."
"It's almost like a burning sensation, if you will, that starts here at your shoulders," she said, "and then it just goes down because it's almost like it's numbing your entire body."
The couple claim her speech began to slur as Justin drove her to a hospital, but he said he began exhibiting symptoms as well after Renee used the hand holding the dollar bill to touch her husband's arm. While his symptoms were mild compared to hers, lasting around an hour compared to her four hours, Renee reportedly experienced an accidental overdose.
Since being released from the hospital, the couple believe the dollar bill was laced with fentanyl or a similar drug. Authorities in Middle Tennessee have already warned residents not to pick up $1 bills lying on the ground after two reported incidents of exposure to a drug. Despite the couple's claims, Dr. David Edwards at Vanderbilt stated that just touching a drug will not cause an overdose as the skin acts as a good barrier. However, he added it could pose a risk for children.
"If you are a child and you pick up a dollar bill that's full of powder and you put your fingers in your mouth, I would say that would be a big risk," said Edwards.
Echoing Edwards' sentiments, Dr. Rebecca Donald, a fentanyl expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, questioned the series of events, WSMV reports.
"I think it is really unlikely the substance this lady got into her system is fentanyl based on the symptoms she had," Donald said, adding, "It is much more likely for her to have a reaction if she had inadvertently rubbed her nose and exposed that drug to some of the blood vessels in her nose or licked her fingers or rubbed her eyes."
A spokesperson for MNPD said officers didn't see any grains on the dollar bill, so it wasn't tested for fentanyl. Authorities plan on destroying the bill.