Drug abusers are increasingly turning to a slow-release form of a powerful painkiller for a quick and dangerous high, University of Florida researchers warn. The trend is raising alarm as the number of people dying from an overdose of the drug fentanyl, an opioid 100 times more potent than morphine, rises.

Addicts are misusing a clear patch that transfers a controlled dose of fentanyl through the skin into the bloodstream over the course of a few days, UF experts say. The adhesive patch is typically prescribed to treat postoperative pain or chronic pain conditions, but in some cases is being misused, often with deadly consequences.

"Because the patch is a sustained release form of the drug, if one withdraws the 72 hours' worth of drug and uses it in a form that it wasn't designed to be used for, then it can rapidly result in death," said the study's lead researcher, Bruce Goldberger, Ph.D., director of toxicology and an associate professor in the departments of pathology, immunology and laboratory medicine and psychiatry in UF's College of Medicine.

Patients who are prescribed the patch must be made aware of the potential dangers of misuse, Goldberger added.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement records cited in the UF study, presented this month in Orlando at the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, show abuse of the patch resulted in the death of 115 people in Florida last year.

While the number of fatalities linked to the patch is still one-quarter the number associated with other drugs abused, such as methadone or hydrocodone, the number of sudden deaths from overdosing on fentanyl has been on the rise during the past few years - not just in Florida but also nationwide, researchers found.

"We have seen an increased use and abuse of the patch form of fentanyl for the past five years or so," Goldberger said. "This is a recent finding related to the prescription of fentanyl patches."

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Contact: Denise Trunk
dtrunk@ufl.edu
352-392-2844
University of Florida
30-Jun-2005

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