What Is Fentanyl? The Facts About the Opioid That Caused Prince's Death

By Alison Mango Amid all the speculation and controversy, the death of legendary artist Prince has been officially ruled an accidental opioid overdose. The Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Minnesota released an autopsy report yesterday listing the cause of his death as an accident, and citing fentanyl toxicity. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid painkiller approved for treating very severe pain. While it's in the same class as more commonly prescribed opioids (such as oxycodone), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) describes fentanyl as the "most potent opioid available for use in medical treatment." In an interview with People, addiction expert Ben Levenson said the drug was originally intended for palliative care--to relieve the suffering of people with grave illnesses. He explained that fentanyl is not ideal for regular pain management: "It hits you fast and it wears off fast, so it's not a good drug for someone who is, for instance, recovering from knee surgery, although it's widely prescribed. It was never designed for that." RELATED: What Everyone Needs to Know About Opioids Levenson, who founded a series of addiction treatment centers called Origins Behavioral Healthcare, also pointed out that fentanyl is prescribed in micrograms as opposed to milligrams because it's so potent. (According to the DEA, a dose as small as 0...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news