Fentanyl: Separating Facts From Fiction
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This is a Canadian attorney in a conversation with an an American ER doc who is also an addiction specialist and toxicologist. Long, long conversation about what's true about fentanyl and what's BS.
Link to videotl;dw version
- Fentanyl has replaced heroin as the drug of choice.
- It's cheap and easy to make. Inconsistent in potency within one batch. You can get lucky and have a "weak" sample or unlucky and have a "lethal" sample.
- The hysteria of medical, and particularly paramedical and law-enforcement people over "being exposed to fentanyl" and having a "near fatal"reaction is bullshit. It's not absorbed through the skin, and it's not aerosolized.
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Interesting - that last point in particular. When our neighbour died, they all showed up in hazmat suits, but from what I could see the guy who supplied it just used to role up in an aging mini-van and give him a little plastic bag.
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Interesting - that last point in particular. When our neighbour died, they all showed up in hazmat suits, but from what I could see the guy who supplied it just used to role up in an aging mini-van and give him a little plastic bag.
@Doctor-Phibes yeah, as someone who's
usedadministered fentanyl for3040 years, I never understood that hysteria.The doc comments that all these "reactions" to exposure are simply hysteria. You don't get agitated and hyper from fentanyl. Your pupils don't dilate. You get sleepy, calm, and perhaps fall asleep. And maybe you die.
Go to about 15:00 for the discussion. He talks about the "nocebo" effect.
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When my mom died of cancer, we had a quite considerable amount of Fentanyl left - certainly enough to commit suicide multiple times.
Back then, I considered for a few minutes whether I should keep it for - I don't know what, but why not? It ended up in the garbage, though.
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When my mom died of cancer, we had a quite considerable amount of Fentanyl left - certainly enough to commit suicide multiple times.
Back then, I considered for a few minutes whether I should keep it for - I don't know what, but why not? It ended up in the garbage, though.
Is there not a return to pharmacy programme in Germany for unused prescription medications?
The garbage or sewage systems are not good disposal options for prescription drugs for a host of reasons.
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Is there not a return to pharmacy programme in Germany for unused prescription medications?
The garbage or sewage systems are not good disposal options for prescription drugs for a host of reasons.
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Speaking of which...
I'm really tired of politicians and talking heads pronouncing it "fentanol."
FFS - ask someone.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in More on fentanyl ODs:
There was a story all over the news yesterday about a cop who was supposedly exposed to fentanyl and needed three (3!) doses of Narcan to save her life. When I saw the story, I immediately called BS.
Don't Let Police, Media Mislead You About Fentanyl Exposure Overdoses
Once again, media outlets are rushing to sow panic by blindly accepting a police department's claims that an officer may have accidentally overdosed by being in close physical proximity to fentanyl, reinforcing the false message that you can potentially overdose on the drug even if you don't intentionally consume it.
This time we head to Tavares, Florida, where the Tavares Police Department distributed to the local press body camera footage of Officer Courtney Bannick appearing to collapse and pass out after encountering what turned out to be fentanyl and meth in a rolled-up dollar bill she found in a routine traffic stop.
Local news outlets lapped it up (the story, not the fentanyl) and the video footage ran on WESH (the local NBC affiliate), FOX 35, and elsewhere. In none of the initial stories does anybody so much as question whether what they're seeing is actually being caused by exposure to fentanyl. The officer was wearing gloves, but it was windy, and police argue that it's possible she breathed the fentanyl in. Officers on the scene say they gave her three doses of Narcan. They brought her to the hospital, where she fully recovered. She is now fine.
The Tavares Police Department is very clear that it's releasing the body camera footage for the purpose of scaring people about fentanyl.
"Officer Bannick really wants others to take away that this drug is dangerous," Tavares Detective Courtney Sullivan told WESH. "It's dangerous for not only yourself but others around you. Something as simple as the wind could expose you and just like that, your life could end."
This just isn't true. Add it to the pile of many, many examples of police attempting to convince the public that any possible exposure to fentanyl may be deadly. It does not simply pass through the skin when you touch it. As for the claim that the officer might have inhaled it, a study from the American College of Medical Toxicology and American Academy of Clinical Toxicology calculated that a person would have to stand next to a massive amount of fentanyl for two and a half hours to feel its effects.
In other words, based on what we know about fentanyl exposure, it is extremely unlikely that what we saw was Bannick overdosing from inhaling fentanyl in a gust of wind.
Obviously something happened—possibly a panic attack brought on by all the insistence that any exposure to fentanyl is potentially deadly. FOX 35 did revisit the story Wednesday with a vague "some say" approach, taking note that there is an "ongoing debate between law enforcement and some in the medical community who say it's nearly impossible to overdose on fentanyl at crime scenes." This is not a "debate." Police keep making claims that medical experts overwhelmingly say are not true.
FOX 35 tracked down a doctor who said that it was, in fact, possible that Bannick could have inhaled fentanyl during that short period of exposure and overdosed. That doctor is not identified and does not appear in the segment.
The good news is that people are publicly pushing back on stories like this. Tweets put out by overly credulous journalists are quickly responded to by people who point out the unlikelihood of what happened.
And yet the story persists. Perhaps police departments believe that these warnings will discourage people from meddling with drugs. They are the ones that respond to these overdose calls and see the impacts. It's clear the Tavares police are hoping that this footage will serve as a public warning.
But when the claims being put forth by the police are easily countered by medical professionals, their efforts are completely undermined and they look less credible. The same holds true for local media outlets.
Whatever the solution to our overdose crisis may be, it's not misleading the public.
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More Crap:
11 Camden County officers treated for fentanyl exposure after search, 5 suspects in custody
Camden County officials announce the arrest of five men in connection with fentanyl and cocaine possession and manufacturing, while 11 officers were exposed to fentanyl in the process of search warrants being executed and required medical treatment.
According to authorities, officers executed search warrants at an apartment on the 1000 block of Harrison Avenue, in Collingswood and at a residence on Eden Hollow Lane in Sicklerville January 12.
While executing the search warrant, officials say, 11 officers at the Collingswood address were exposed to fentanyl and required medical treatment. HAZMAT teams from Cherry Hill and Camden County were called to the Collingswood scene to assist.
According to authorities, 49-year-old Ali Cole, of Sicklerville, was reportedly trying to destroy evidence at the Collingswood address when the search warrant was executed. Coles was arrested and charged.
Isn't it interesting how none of the suspects were affected, but 11 cops were?
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Speaking of which...
I'm really tired of politicians and talking heads pronouncing it "fentanol."
FFS - ask someone.
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What bullshit.
The perp got fentanyl powder on his hands and...nothing happened.
The cop was exposed to "a small amount of fentanyl" and was taken to the hospital after "passing out" and was released.
"Police officer hospitalized!!"
Yeah, I suppose you can say a visit to an ER and a discharge qualifies as "hospitalized."
THAT'S NOT HOW FENTANYL WORKS, you assholes.
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Tania the Herbalist gives us her (?) opinion on fentanyl.
The thread is a hoot.
Best comment:
"Hey Tania, did you know that there is also bupivacaine, a synthetic local anesthetic used in epidurals (as opposed to cocaine which is a naturally occurring alkaloid LA). Also, fentanyl is the most commonly used narcotic in the operating room used in almost every single case."
