{"id":8036,"date":"2016-08-25T17:02:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T17:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2016\/08\/25\/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-fueling-a-spike-in-overdoses\/"},"modified":"2016-08-25T17:02:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T17:02:00","slug":"illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-fueling-a-spike-in-overdoses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-fueling-a-spike-in-overdoses\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegally Made Fentanyl Seems To Be Fueling A Spike In Overdoses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style:italic;font-size:16px\">By  <a class=\"colorbox\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/08\/25\/491340448\/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-driving-a-spike-in-overdoses?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=healthcare\">Katherine Hobson<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/08\/25\/491340448\/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-driving-a-spike-in-overdoses?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=healthcare\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2016\/08\/25\/fentanyl-ff6669163c01eaa884d8dc7834c1af809dbcf926-s1100-c15.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button>Enlarge this image<\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>These pills were made to look like Oxycodone, but they&#8217;re actually an illicit form of the potent painkiller fentanyl. A surge in police seizures of illicit fentanyl parallels a rise in overdose deaths. <strong>Tommy Farmer\/Tennessee Bureau of Investigation\/AP<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>toggle caption<\/strong> <span>Tommy Farmer\/Tennessee Bureau of Investigation\/AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Federal data suggest illegally manufactured fentanyl, a drug that is <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/drugoverdose\/opioids\/fentanyl.html\">50 to 100 times stronger than morphine<\/a>, is behind an increase in synthetic opioid deaths.<\/p>\n<p>A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that there was a 426 percent increase in seized drug products that tested positive for fentanyl from 2013 to 2014. And separate data show the number of deaths involving synthetic opioids, a class that includes fentanyl and tramadol but not hydrocodone, rose 79 percent during that same period.<\/p>\n<p>Among 27 U.S. states analyzed, there was a strong correlation between increases in synthetic opioid deaths and in seized fentanyl products, but not with changes in fentanyl prescribing, <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/65\/wr\/mm6533a2.htm?s_cid=mm6533a2_w\">according to data<\/a> published Thursday in the <em>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>That suggests, the authors say, that illegally manufactured fentanyl is driving the spike in overdoses. (Deaths attributed specifically to fentanyl aren&#8217;t reported in national data.)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What concerns us here is the rapid increase, especially in a small number of states,&#8221; says Matthew Gladden, an author of the report and a researcher at the CDC. In eight &#8220;high-burden&#8221; states, the death rate from synthetic opioids rose 174 percent, to 3.6 per 100,000, from 2013-14.<\/p>\n<p>Fentanyl is available by prescription to treat severe pain. But the fentanyl that&#8217;s currently on the streets \u2014 <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2015\/08\/26\/434618809\/ilicit-version-of-painkiller-fentanyl-makes-heroin-deadlier\">usually mixed into heroin<\/a> and often without the user&#8217;s knowledge \u2014 isn&#8217;t from diverted pharmaceutical products. Instead it&#8217;s being illicitly manufactured, according to the government.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Starting in 2013, the production of illegally manufactured fentanyl increased to unprecedented levels, fueled by increases in the global supply, processing and distribution of fentanyl and fentanyl-precursor chemicals by criminal organizations,&#8221; the report says. Between 2014 and 2015 alone, the number of seized fentanyl products rose from 5,343 to 13,882.<\/p>\n<p>Fentanyl is cheaper to make than heroin and very potent, which means manufacturers can wring out more doses per batch. &#8220;There&#8217;s a huge profit margin,&#8221; says Gladden.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dea.gov\/docs\/Counterfeit%20Prescription%20Pills.pdf\">said in July<\/a> that fentanyl was also showing up in counterfeit pain pills. Prince <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/06\/02\/480471596\/musician-prince-died-of-opioid-overdose-says-medical-examiner\">died of a self-administered dose of fentanyl<\/a>, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.startribune.com\/pills-seized-from-paisley-park-contained-illicit-fentanyl-same-drug-that-killed-prince\/390816101\/\">recently reported<\/a> that pills identified as hydrocodone found at the musician&#8217;s Paisley Park studio actually contained fentanyl.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s quite a game-changer,&#8221; says <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.drugabusedialogues.com\/about_carol.html\">Carol Falkowski<\/a>, CEO of Drug Abuse Dialogues, an education and training organization. &#8220;It&#8217;s imperative that the word gets out that prescription pills purchased on the black market can be deadly. It&#8217;s an extreme case of buyer beware.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The report says an &#8220;urgent&#8221; response from law enforcement and public health is necessary to tackle the problem, including more testing for fentanyl in areas where it&#8217;s a big problem. The <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/about\/news\/2015\/03\/26\/hhs-takes-strong-steps-to-address-opioid-drug-related-overdose-death-and-dependence.html\">government has advocated<\/a> the expanded use of naloxone, <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2015\/04\/10\/396884295\/a-life-saving-medication-that-my-patient-didn-t-get\">an antidote to opioid drugs<\/a>, as well as expanding the use of <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/05\/17\/478387232\/treating-opioid-addiction-with-a-drug-raises-hope-and-controversy\">addiction treatment that includes medications<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Katherine Hobson is a freelance health and science writer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. She&#8217;s on Twitter:<\/em> <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katherinehobson\">@katherinehobson<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/fivefilters\/block-ads\/wiki\/There-are-no-acceptable-ads\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source:: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/08\/25\/491340448\/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-driving-a-spike-in-overdoses?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=healthcare\" class=\"colorbox\" title=\"Illegally Made Fentanyl Seems To Be Fueling A Spike In Overdoses\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/08\/25\/491340448\/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-driving-a-spike-in-overdoses?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=healthcare<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/08\/25\/491340448\/illegally-made-fentanyl-seems-to-be-driving-a-spike-in-overdoses?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=healthcare\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2016\/08\/25\/fentanyl-ff6669163c01eaa884d8dc7834c1af809dbcf926-s1100-c15.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><button>Enlarge this image<\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>These pills were made to look like Oxycodone, but they&#8217;re actually an illicit form of the potent painkiller fentanyl. A surge in police seizures of illicit fentanyl parallels a rise in overdose deaths. <strong>Tommy Farmer\/Tennessee Bureau of Investigation\/AP<\/strong> <strong>hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>toggle caption<\/strong> <span>Tommy Farmer\/Tennessee Bureau of Investigation\/AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Federal data suggest illegally manufactured fentanyl, a drug that is <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/drugoverdose\/opioids\/fentanyl.html\">50 to 100 times stronger than morphine<\/a>, is behind an increase in synthetic opioid deaths.<\/p>\n<p>A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that there was a 426 percent increase in seized drug products that tested positive for fentanyl from 2013 to 2014. And separate data show the number of deaths involving synthetic opioids, a class that includes fentanyl and tramadol but not hydrocodone, rose 79 percent during that same period.<\/p>\n<p>Among 27 U.S. states analyzed, there was a strong correlation between increases in synthetic opioid deaths and in seized fentanyl products, but not with changes in fentanyl prescribing, <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/65\/wr\/mm6533a2.htm?s_cid=mm6533a2_w\">according to data<\/a> published Thursday in the <em>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>That suggests, the authors say, that illegally manufactured fentanyl is driving the spike in overdoses. (Deaths attributed specifically to fentanyl aren&#8217;t reported in national data.)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What concerns us here is the rapid increase, especially in a small number of states,&#8221; says Matthew Gladden, an author of the report and a researcher at the CDC. In eight &#8220;high-burden&#8221; states, the death rate from synthetic opioids rose 174 percent, to 3.6 per 100,000, from 2013-14.<\/p>\n<p>Fentanyl is available by prescription to treat severe pain. But the fentanyl that&#8217;s currently on the streets \u2014 <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2015\/08\/26\/434618809\/ilicit-version-of-painkiller-fentanyl-makes-heroin-deadlier\">usually mixed into heroin<\/a> and often without the user&#8217;s knowledge \u2014 isn&#8217;t from diverted pharmaceutical products. Instead it&#8217;s being illicitly manufactured, according to the government.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Starting in 2013, the production of illegally manufactured fentanyl increased to unprecedented levels, fueled by increases in the global supply, processing and distribution of fentanyl and fentanyl-precursor chemicals by criminal organizations,&#8221; the report says. Between 2014 and 2015 alone, the number of seized fentanyl products rose from 5,343 to 13,882.<\/p>\n<p>Fentanyl is cheaper to make than heroin and very potent, which means manufacturers can wring out more doses per batch. &#8220;There&#8217;s a huge profit margin,&#8221; says Gladden.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dea.gov\/docs\/Counterfeit%20Prescription%20Pills.pdf\">said in July<\/a> that fentanyl was also showing up in counterfeit pain pills. Prince <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thetwo-way\/2016\/06\/02\/480471596\/musician-prince-died-of-opioid-overdose-says-medical-examiner\">died of a self-administered dose of fentanyl<\/a>, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.startribune.com\/pills-seized-from-paisley-park-contained-illicit-fentanyl-same-drug-that-killed-prince\/390816101\/\">recently reported<\/a> that pills identified as hydrocodone found at the musician&#8217;s Paisley Park studio actually contained fentanyl.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s quite a game-changer,&#8221; says <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.drugabusedialogues.com\/about_carol.html\">Carol Falkowski<\/a>, CEO of Drug Abuse Dialogues, an education and training organization. &#8220;It&#8217;s imperative that the word gets out that prescription pills purchased on the black market can be deadly. It&#8217;s an extreme case of buyer beware.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The report says an &#8220;urgent&#8221; response from law enforcement and public health is necessary to tackle the problem, including more testing for fentanyl in areas where it&#8217;s a big problem. The <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/about\/news\/2015\/03\/26\/hhs-takes-strong-steps-to-address-opioid-drug-related-overdose-death-and-dependence.html\">government has advocated<\/a> the expanded use of naloxone, <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2015\/04\/10\/396884295\/a-life-saving-medication-that-my-patient-didn-t-get\">an antidote to opioid drugs<\/a>, as well as expanding the use of <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/05\/17\/478387232\/treating-opioid-addiction-with-a-drug-raises-hope-and-controversy\">addiction treatment that includes medications<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Katherine Hobson is a freelance health and science writer based in Brooklyn, N.Y. She&#8217;s on Twitter:<\/em> <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/katherinehobson\">@katherinehobson<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/\">Let&#8217;s block ads!<\/a><\/strong> <a class=\"colorbox\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/fivefilters\/block-ads\/wiki\/There-are-no-acceptable-ads\">(Why?)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8036\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}