Fentanyl News and Research

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Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opiate analgesic similar to but more potent than morphine. It is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, or to manage pain after surgery. It is also sometimes used to treat people with chronic pain who are physically tolerant to opiates. It is a schedule II prescription drug.

Researchers uncover the binding mechanism of opioid receptor

Together with colleagues from Shanghai, Brussels, Canada and the USA, researchers from the University of Bonn have uncovered the binding mechanism of an important pain receptor.

27 Nov 2019

Not yesterday’s cocaine: Death toll rising from tainted drug

A pain pill prescription for nerve damage revived Gwendolyn Barton's long-dormant addiction last year, awakening fears she would slip back into smoking crack cocaine.

25 Nov 2019

Fentanyl-involved overdoses are concentrated in resource-deprived neighborhoods

Fentanyl overdoses cluster geographically more than non-fentanyl overdoses, according to a study just released by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

22 Nov 2019

Urban hotspots of opioid abuse among high-schoolers revealed

A new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that in several cities and counties the proportion of high-schoolers who have ever used heroin or misused prescription opioids is much higher than the national average.

14 Nov 2019

New tool could help detect smaller concentrations of drug powders

In 2017, more than 28,000 cases of fatal overdoses in the United States involved fentanyl. Just a pinch of the synthetic opioid, estimated to be 100 times stronger than morphine, can be lethal.

12 Nov 2019

Opioid misuse greatly increases chance of major depressive episode among teen girls

New research by Keith Chan of UAlbany's School of Social Welfare shows that among girls ages 12-17, the misuse of opioids greatly increases the chance of having a major depressive episode. Prescription opioids may include oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl.

1 Nov 2019

New online course launched to help providers understand every facet of opioid crisis

Even if they never write a single prescription for an opioid painkiller, or care for someone who has overdosed on heroin or fentanyl, people who work in every area of American healthcare need to understand how the opioid epidemic is affecting their patients, their families and their communities, and how to prevent new cases of opioid addiction.

30 Oct 2019

Researchers are confronting opioid epidemic in multiple ways

With opioid drug overdose deaths skyrocketing in recent decades, researchers at Brown University's School of Public Health are confronting the epidemic in multiple ways.

30 Oct 2019

Researchers find 221% increase in opioid-related drug overdoses in Connecticut

Opioid overdose deaths in Connecticut doubled in the past six years, largely driven by use of multiple drugs together, according to a team of researchers from the University of Connecticut and Yale University.

29 Oct 2019

Enhanced informatics tool could help better identify nonfatal opioid overdose cases in the ED

A team of researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina has been awarded $3.75 million by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to enhance an existing informatics tool known as "informatics for integrating biology and the bedside" or I2B2.

24 Oct 2019

Sanford Burnham Prebys scientist receives $3.58 million to advance treatment for opioid-use disorders

The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded a $3.58 million grant to Sanford Burnham Prebys scientist Anthony Pinkerton, Ph.D., to advance a potential treatment for opioid-use disorders, called SBI-553.

23 Oct 2019

Overdose prevention should also focus on alcohol use, study suggests

For several years, the national spotlight has shone on the need to prevent and rapidly treat opioid overdoses. But a new study suggests a need for more focus on the risk of alcohol overdoses among people who use opioids of all kinds, as well as cocaine, marijuana and certain prescription drugs.

14 Oct 2019

Caution urged in reducing opioids for pain

After years and decades in which healthcare providers were freely prescribing opiates for all sorts of painful conditions, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published guidelines to help bring down opioid prescription rates and with them, addiction and overdose-related death rates. Though these were not binding, they urged physicians to be cautious in dealing with opioids when prescribing for pain.

13 Oct 2019

New analysis examines the darknet's opioid purchases

U.S. overdose deaths attributed to synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, have increased from under 3,000 in 2013 to nearly 20,000 in 2016, making up half of all opioid-related overdose deaths.

9 Oct 2019

Study may provide best intervention measures to prevent opioid overdose

A minority of people who use illicit opioids indicated a preference for fentanyl, the super-potent synthetic opioid that accounts for much of the recent rise in U.S. overdose deaths, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

19 Sep 2019

New technique for police to quickly and safely test drug evidence

Scientists have demonstrated a way for police to quickly and safely test whether a baggie or other package contains illegal drugs without having to handle any suspicious contents directly.

17 Sep 2019

Accelerating drug discovery process to help patients

An international research team has developed a new strategy that can predict the potential clinical implications of new therapeutic compounds based on simple cellular responses.

15 Sep 2019

Developing next generation treatment to counteract opioid addiction

There are many moments in the human experience when tragedy elicits not only compassion, but inspiration. When Mike Zhang heard the story of a mother whose son died of an opioid overdose just one month after the teenager's introduction to the drug at a party, the Virginia Tech researcher wanted to help.

11 Sep 2019

In India’s burgeoning pain market, U.S. drugmakers stand to gain

Pain, like death, is a universal phenomenon. The sour grimace on the woman's face, registering her bodily complaints to Dr. G.P. Dureja in his East Delhi office, would be recognized anywhere. Slouched shoulders, pinched forehead. She wore a willowy black kurta and cast a disapproving glance at the five pain physicians-in-training huddled behind Dureja, founder of Delhi Pain Management Centre and one of India's pioneering pain physicians.

28 Aug 2019

UNM researchers find strong evidence that cannabis can significantly alleviate pain

Using the largest database of real-time recordings of the effects of common and commercially available cannabis products in the United States, researchers at The University of New Mexico found strong evidence that cannabis can significantly alleviate pain, with the average user experiencing a three-point drop in pain suffering on a 0-10 point scale immediately following cannabis consumption.

21 Aug 2019