CDC has issued a Health Alert Network update to report on new developments that have placed more people at risk for fentanyl-involved overdoses from illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) and may increase the risk of non-fatal and fatal overdose.
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At the same time, prescriptions for fentanyl did not go up, supporting the thought that the increases in overdoses could be attributed to illicit manufacture of the drug. He’s a behavioral scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reports that there are two types of fentanyl.
Most of the victims of these overdoses were men and those aged 15 to 44, the researchers reported.
Eight states were most affected by the epidemic: Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, and North Carolina.
The Indianapolis Star reported that a special agent in the DEA’s Indianapolis office, Greg Westfall, said undercover agents purchased what they thought to be heroin in the city.
The CDC estimates that the 27 states evaluated represent 75% of the synthetic opioid deaths in the country.
For example, heroin spiked with fentanyl may be responsible for 75 overdoses in IN and OH since last Friday. In just 10 days, one batch was responsible for at least 10 deaths and 48 overdoses.
From 2010-2012 to 2013-2014, the total number of people in Florida who died from fentanyl-related overdoses increased from 379 to 582, and the number of people ages 14-34 increased from 82 to 200. “One pill might have 1 milligram, and another will have 3 milligrams, and be deadly”.
Carfentanil, which is used as an elephant tranquilizer, and W-18 are almost 10,000 times more potent than morphine, he noted.
The drug is an opioid analgesic – like Vicodin or morphine, but much more potent. “Dealers often cut their heroin with such synthetic drugs to make their supply last longer, while also making it more potent”.
USA Today reported that both OH and IN have been put on high-alert following a series of overdoses IN the states. There was a 1,043 percent upsurge in drug raids and a 526 percent increase in deaths in Ohio.
According to Gladden, a multi-pronged approach is needed to quell the fentanyl epidemic. “We need to know the basics of where are these products, and where do we mount real public health responses, to get ahead of it in states being impacted”.
The surge in fentanyl-spiked heroin started in 2013, when the drug was suddenly blamed for more than 700 USA deaths.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is also hoping to prevent addiction from occurring.
Preliminary data from a handful of states for both 2015 and the first half of 2016 indicate the fentanyl problem has grown significantly worse since 2014.
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“We arrived at this place on a path paved with good intentions”.
