Deaths Attributed To Highly Powerful Opioid Rise Sharply In Chicago

By aaroncynic in News on May 8, 2017 8:32PM

A highly powerful opioid has been linked to 40 deaths so far in 2017, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

At least 44 deaths as of April have been attributed to the drug acrylfentanyl, an analog of Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used as a pain killer. Officials say the potency of the drug isn’t yet fully understood, but is many times more powerful than other opioids like heroin, as
the Chicago Tribune reports.

"Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are very powerful drugs that are likely to be lethal," Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, Cook County’s chief medical examiner, said in a statement given to NBC5. “Just one dose can easily stop a person from breathing, causing immediate death.”

Numbers of overdoses attributed to opioids have been steadily on the rise over the past few years. In total, 1,091 people died in 2016 of an overdose related to an opiate drug, which increased from 649 deaths in 2015.

“We are seeing people in our emergency department who need increased doses of naloxone — in some cases as many as four doses — for the patient to be stabilized after ingesting fentanyl, or a heroin/fentanyl combination,” Dr. Steve Aks, of Stroger Hospital, told the Tribune.

Officials say the number of deaths attributable to acrylfentanyl is likely to rise, given that some toxicology reports are still pending.