Fentanyl Law Enforcement Submissions and Increases in Synthetic Opioid–Involved Overdose Deaths — 27 States, 2013–2014

Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2010–2015

“…These findings are consistent with recent reports highlighting the increasing trend in deaths involving heroin and synthetic opioids other than methadone (1)(2)(3)5). The number of deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone have been associated with the number of drug products obtained by law enforcement testing positive for fentanyl, but not with fentanyl prescribing rates (2,3).…”

“…Opioid death rates increased by 15.6% from 2014 to 2015. These significant increases in death rates were driven by synthetic opioids other than methadone (72.2%), most likely illicitly-manufactured fentanyl (2,3), and heroin (20.6%). Increases in these opioid subcategories occurred overall and across all demographics and regions.…”

“…The number of deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone have been associated with the number of drug products obtained by law enforcement testing positive for fentanyl, but not with fentanyl prescribing rates (2,3). A recent report found that these increases, likely attributable to illicitly manufactured fentanyl, were concentrated in eight of 27 states examined (2).…”

Increases in Fentanyl-Related Overdose Deaths — Florida and Ohio, 2013–2015

“…* DEA's National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) collects drug identification results from drug cases analyzed by federal, state, and local forensic laboratories throughout the United States. † In 2014, 80% of fentanyl submissions (i.e., drug products obtained by law enforcement that tested positive for fentanyl) in NFLIS were identified from 10 states, including Florida and Ohio (2), and seven of these 10 states reported sharp increases in fentanyl-related overdose deaths (fentanyl deaths) (3). This report presents findings of increased fentanyl deaths during 2013-2015 from investigations conducted by the University of Florida and the Ohio Department of Public Health, in collaboration with CDC.…”

Addressing the growing opioid and heroin abuse epidemic: a call for medical school curricula

“…Similar to increased rates of heroin overdose, rates of overdoses from synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased by 88% between 2013 and 2016 [2]. This significant increase seems to be primarily the result of illicitly manufactured fentanyl [13,14], which is commonly mixed into batches of heroin [15]. This is concerning given that fentanyl is 50–100 times more potent than morphine [16].…”