CDC CONFIRMS THAT FENTANYL IS THE MOST DANGEROUS DRUG IN THE U.S.

Since the 2016 death of beloved pop singer Prince, the drug fentanyl has suddenly skyrocketed in recent media firestorms. Following this event, physicians have only confirmed details about the musician’s death to be proof of how deadly this powerful painkiller can be. According to Dr. Linda Richter, fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids are the main driving force of opioid-related deaths in the United States. Now, in recent week, the government only confirmed this notion after reporting that fentanyl is officially the #1 more dangerous drug in our country (period). Based on a report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, from 2013 to 2016, the use of synthetic opioids boosted by 11%. Now, consider that 63,632 people died from opioid-related overdoses in 2016, and you may consider why fentanyl is so deadly. Let’s take a closer look at this story and find out more.

Disturbing Body Count

Based on the most recent reports, officials revealed that an estimated 29% of overdose-related deaths in 2016 involved fentanyl (taken from death certificates focusing on drug-related deaths from 2011 to 2016), a trend that has been steeply growing across this span of 5 years. In 2011, this deadly opioid was the root cause of only 4% of all drug-related fatalities, while the most common opioid during this time was oxycodone (raking in 12% of deaths). Meanwhile, from 2012 to 2015, the most common cause of opioid-related deaths was heroin, which caused 4,571 (11%) of all drug fatalities. Ultimately, in 2016, fentanyl caused 18,000 deaths, while heroin backslid to 16,000 (still not a good thing).

From Heroin Crisis to Fentanyl Epidemic

Although medical professionals have argued that overprescribed painkillers are the root cause of this dangerous opioid epidemic, these people have not agreed that the problem has evolved beyond this point, changing from a heroin crisis to a full-blown fentanyl epidemic. However, Dr. Andrew Kolodny
(the co-founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing) has urged physicians not to consider sudden changes as a hint that the opioid crisis is over. In fact, he has pointed out that, in areas where fentanyl has been flooding into the streets, the number of deaths has reached a terrifying number.

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