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.

Death of a 43-year-old male marks the entry of 'zombie' drug into the UK

The death of a 43-year-old male is the first in the UK to be associated with Xylazine and marks the entry of the drug into the UK drug supply.

26 May 2023

California’s fentanyl problem is getting worse

California has allocated more than $1 billion in recent years to combat its opioid crisis. Much of the money has been used to distribute fentanyl test strips and the overdose reversal drug naloxone, as well as deliver medical care to people who are homeless.

23 May 2023

New Jersey's Medicaid reforms spurred increases in buprenorphine prescriptions to combat opioid addiction

Reforms to New Jersey's Medicaid program successfully spurred ongoing increases in buprenorphine prescriptions for the treatment of opioid addiction, according to a Rutgers analysis.

19 May 2023

California confronts overdose epidemic among former prison inmates

Michael Vera walked into a bedroom of a residential drug treatment program in Los Angeles in March to find its occupant slumped over on his bed and struggling to breathe, a homemade straw on the floor beside him and tinfoil with what appeared to be drug residue under his body.

10 May 2023

Legal pot is more potent than ever — and still largely unregulated

Marijuana and other products containing THC, the plant's main psychoactive ingredient, have grown more potent and more dangerous as legalization has made them more widely available.

9 May 2023

New research to measure the impact of overdose prevention centers in the United States

NYU Langone Health and Brown University's School of Public Health today announced a grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, to conduct research to measure the impact of some of the first publicly recognized overdose prevention centers (OPCs) in the United States, located in New York City and Providence, Rhode Island.

8 May 2023

Researchers identify a potential safer route to pain relief

Strategies to treat pain without triggering dangerous side effects such as euphoria and addiction have proven elusive.

4 May 2023

Researchers compare the action of natural and therapeutic opioids

The human body naturally produces opioid-like substances, such as endorphins, which block the perception of pain and increase the feeling of well-being.

19 Apr 2023

California’s Medicaid experiment spends money to save money — and help the homeless

Sporting a bright smile and the polished Super Bowl ring he won as a star NFL player in the late 1980s, Craig McEwen doesn't fit the archetype of someone teetering on the brink of homelessness.

19 Apr 2023

New biologic inactivates potent opioid and reverses overdose

A new therapeutic designed by Scripps Research chemists can alter the molecular structure of the potent opioid carfentanil, inactivating the opioid and reversing a carfentanil overdose.

18 Apr 2023

Modified Botox can alleviate chronic pain without risk of paralysis or addiction

A modified form of Botox could give long-term pain relief to patients with chronic nerve injury pain, according to a new study.

11 Apr 2023

Innovative statewide surveillance system will help reduce the burden of opioid use disorder in Kentucky

University of Kentucky researchers are creating an innovative statewide surveillance system to inform prevention and response efforts aimed at reducing the burden of opioid use disorder in Kentucky.

10 Apr 2023

MIP Discovery announces drugs of abuse reagent launch

MIP Discovery, a leader in rationally designed detection reagents based on its proprietary nanoMIP technology, in response to the growing synthetic opioid crisis has announced the launch of its first drugs of abuse products which are able to recognize norfentanyl, the main urinary metabolite of fentanyl.

From MIP Discovery 4 Apr 2023

Buprenorphine can be safely started in the ER without triggering withdrawal even for people using stronger opioids

Results from a multi-site clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health showed that less than 1% of people with opioid use disorder whose drug use includes fentanyl experienced withdrawal when starting buprenorphine in the emergency department.

30 Mar 2023