100x Stronger Than Fentanyl Fuels Fatal Overdoses, CDC Warns

United States: Illegally manufactured fentanyls were blamed for nearly seventy percent of overdose deaths in the US in the last year.

Among them was carfentanil, the changed version of fentanyl said to be 100 times more potent, the CDC said in an alert dated December 5.

More about the news

Synthetic opioid carfentanil lethality increased by over 700 percent in the past year; the same source shows 29 fatal overdoses in January-June 2023 and 238 in January-June 2023.

This information was obtained from the CDC State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) database.

What more has the data suggested?

The numbers could actually be higher, as 2024 data is provisional, and some of the overdose deaths might still not have been recorded, the agency pointed out, Fox News reported.

The drug had “largely disappeared” since an outbreak of deaths associated with an outbreak of carfentanil in 2016 and 2016, according to the CDC.

The recent rise in fatal overdoses due to carfentanil and other more potent opioids than fentanyl has prompted the CDC to ask for “rigorous monitoring” of carfentanil.

Why such a prevalence of drugs?

Like other Schedule II narcotics, its “high profitability” most probably contributes to its use, as observed by Dr. Chris Tuell from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine’s clinical director of addiction services.

Carfentanil is 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, Tuell agreed.

A major issue with carfentanil and fentanyl is that they are most often found in combination with other substances like benzodiazepines, cocaine, and other opioids in a way that causes accidental overdose, Tuell explained, Fox News reported.

Carfentanil can be injected and is often found in combination with other opioids or heroin, according to Tuell. It may be taken internally in a powder form where it can be inhaled.