fentanyl

'That Fentanyl — That's Death': A Story Of Recovery In Baltimore

6:36pm August 03, 2017

Andrea Towson was known in West Baltimore as the go-to person for help getting high. Last year, she nearly died from a fentanyl overdose. "Thank God for another day," she says.

Queue Listen Now

A test strip designed to help doctors check a patient's urine for fentanyl is being distributed in the Bronx to encourage users of heroin or other opioids to check what's in their syringe before they inject.

An Experiment Helps Heroin Users Test Their Street Drugs For Fentanyl

4:34pm May 16, 2017

by Mary Harris

Some people on heroin die because the drug was laced with something much stronger — like fentanyl. A few needle exchange programs give users test strips to check their drug's content before injecting.

Lisa, a client at the AAC Needle Exchange and Overdose Prevention Program in Cambridge, Mass. Nearly five years after an opioid overdose she still limps — possibly because of damage the drug cocktail did to her nerves or muscles.

What Doesn't Kill You Can Maim: Unexpected Injuries From Opioids

2:42pm April 13, 2017

by Martha Bebinger

Emergency room doctors are just beginning to study a new kind of casualty in the opioid epidemic — patients who survive an overdose, but walk away with brain damage, kidney failure or dead muscle.

Allyson and Eddie, clients at the AAC Needle Exchange and Overdose Prevention Program in Cambridge, Mass., say they carry naloxone and try to never use drugs alone to reduce the risk of overdosing.

Fentanyl Adds A New Terror For People Abusing Opioids

5:14pm April 06, 2017

by Martha Bebinger

People who abuse opioids are well aware of the risk posed by fentanyl, a powerful anesthetic that's increasingly slipped into heroin and other drugs. They're coming up with new tactics to survive.

Queue Listen Now

Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police go through a decontamination procedure after intercepting a package containing around 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of the powerful opioid carfentanil, imported from China to Vancouver. China has now added the drug t

China Blacklists Carfentanil, Closing A Deadly Loophole

10:31am February 16, 2017

by Bill Chappell

The opioid carfentanil is roughly 10,000 times more potent than morphine — but until now, it hasn't been a controlled substance in China.

First responders have found that standard doses of naloxone aren't always enough to counteract the powerful sedating effects of carfentanil.

An Even Deadlier Opioid, Carfentanil, Is Hitting The Streets

4:54pm September 02, 2016

by Jennifer Ludden

Carfentanil, a powerful opioid used to sedate elephants, is being blamed for a record spike in drug overdoses in the Midwest. It's much stronger, and riskier, than heroin or fentanyl.

Queue Listen Now

These pills were made to look like Oxycodone, but they're actually an illicit form of the potent painkiller fentanyl. A surge in police seizures of illicit fentanyl parallels a rise in overdose deaths.

Illegally Made Fentanyl Seems To Be Fueling A Spike In Overdoses

3:23pm August 25, 2016

by Katherine Hobson

Fentanyl is showing up in heroin and counterfeit pain pills, and users may not even know they're taking the extremely potent drug.

Heroin sold in the U.S., like this dose confiscated in Alabama last fall, is often cut with other drugs.

Illicit Version Of Painkiller Fentanyl Makes Heroin Deadlier

3:28pm August 27, 2015

by Fred Bever

U.S. drug officials have traced a sharp spike in the already climbing death toll from heroin overdoses to an additive — acetyl fentanyl. The fentanyl is being cooked up in clandestine labs in Mexico.

Queue Listen Now