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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Synthetics now killing more people than prescription opioids, report says [cnn.com]

Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have overtaken prescription opioids as the No. 1 killer in the opioid epidemic, according to a new report.

The report, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA [jamanetwork.com] [DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.2844] [DX [doi.org]], calculated the number and percentage of synthetic opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States between 2010 and 2016 using death certificates from the National Vital Statistics System. The researchers found that about 46% of the 42,249 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016 involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, while 40% involved prescription drugs.

That's more than a three-fold increase in the presence of synthetic opioids from 2010, when synthetic drugs were involved in approximately 14% of opioid-overdose deaths.

Related: Heroin, Fentanyl? Meh: Carfentanil is the Latest Killer Opioid [soylentnews.org]
Study Finds Stark Increase in Opioid-Related Admissions, Deaths in Nation's ICUs [soylentnews.org]
U.S. Life Expectancy Continues to Decline Due to Opioid Crisis [soylentnews.org]
Purdue Pharma to Cut Sales Force, Stop Marketing Opioids to Doctors [soylentnews.org]
The More Opioids Doctors Prescribe, the More Money They Make [soylentnews.org]
Two More Studies Link Access to Cannabis to Lower Use of Opioids [soylentnews.org]

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