Fentanyl Hysteria
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In this post we wanted to dissect a common trend in social media and the media itself, something we have termed “Fentanyl Hysteria.”
There has been a trend recently in the media coverage of the opioid crisis that has many practitioners upset and alarmed. The trend has been toward exaggerated and alarmist reporting on the effects of Fentanyl on the innocent bystander (as opposed to the drug user). In these reports, EMS, police, and the general public claim to have been victims of fentanyl overdoses by passive exposure to the drug.
In these media reports, the police or EMS personnel claim to experience an overdose toxidrome from something as simple as being in the same room as fentanyl or being in a vehicle pursuit when someone throws a bag of fentanyl out the window. However, the physiology of the drug absorption, the pharmacokinectics, and the presenting symptoms of overdose fly in the face of these reported accounts of accidental overdoses. Essentially, in most cases, a true passive overdose of fentanyl is essentially impossible given the absorption of the drug.
In our conversation with Ryan Marino, we dissect fentanyl absorption, the driving factors behind this type of reporting, and how to combat the misinformation. Hear that interview here:
Examples of Fentanyl Hysteria reporting:
