This picture supplied by the U.S. Attorneys Workplace for Utah and launched as proof in a 2019 trial exhibits fentanyl-laced faux oxycodone drugs collected throughout an investigation.
AP
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AP
This picture supplied by the U.S. Attorneys Workplace for Utah and launched as proof in a 2019 trial exhibits fentanyl-laced faux oxycodone drugs collected throughout an investigation.
AP
U.S. public well being officers are persevering with to warn of a rising menace fueling the nation’s historic opioid disaster: faux prescription drugs.
The share of overdose deaths involving counterfeit drugs greater than doubled between mid-2019 and late 2021, and the share greater than tripled in western states, in keeping with a brand new report from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
Based on the CDC, overdose deaths that had proof of pretend tablet use accounted for simply 2% of fatalities between July and September of 2019. That determine jumped to 4.7% between October and December of 2021.
Those that died from overdoses with proof of pretend tablet use — in comparison with overdoses with out it — have been extra typically youthful, Hispanic or Latino and had misused pharmaceuticals up to now.
When taking a look at states within the west — together with Arizona, Washington and Alaska — researchers discovered that the speed surged from 4.7% to 14.7% over that point interval. The CDC says that is a change for this area, which has traditionally seen much less unlawful white-powder fentanyl — a robust opioid generally present in counterfeit drugs — as a result of it is troublesome to combine with black tar heroin, which is extra prevalent within the western U.S.
The report comes as drug deaths throughout the nation stay at file highs, with the CDC estimating that greater than 105,000 folks fatally overdosed in 2022.
“The proliferation of counterfeit drugs, which aren’t manufactured by pharmaceutical firms, however are usually made to appear like reputable pharmaceutical drugs (regularly oxycodone or alprazolam), is complicating the illicit drug market and probably contributing to those deaths,” the report’s authors mentioned.
Illicit fentanyl was the only real drug concerned in 41.4% of drug overdose fatalities with indications of counterfeit tablet use, the CDC added.
The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public security alert in 2021 warning of an uptick in faux prescription drugs being offered illegally, a lot of which contained probably lethal quantities of fentanyl.
Some commonly-faked pharmaceuticals included OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Xanax and Adderall, and authorities mentioned the counterfeit drugs have been being offered on-line and over social media.
“Drug traffickers are utilizing faux drugs to use the opioid disaster and prescription drug misuse in america, bringing overdose deaths and violence to American communities,” the DEA mentioned on the time.
Final yr, the DEA mentioned 60% of the fentanyl-laced faux prescription drugs it examined contained a probably deadly dose of the opioid.
In the meantime, U.S. officers proceed to attempt to fight the nation’s raging opioid epidemic.
The Biden administration introduced final week that it was setting apart greater than $450 million to fight the continued opioid disaster, together with $18.9 million to broaden a legislation enforcement program concentrating on drug trafficking and manufacturing at a regional stage.
Parts of the funding can even go to a nationwide advert marketing campaign concerning the risks of fentanyl geared toward younger folks in addition to to providers in rural areas throughout the U.S. for these liable to overdosing on illicit fentanyl or different opioids.
The Meals and Drug Administration additionally introduced in March that it accepted the overdose-reversing nasal spray Narcan for over-the-counter gross sales with no prescription.
