Doctors are expressing concern about a drug making its way to the US that is more deadly than fentanyl.
Researchers say Nitazenes, a group of man-made opioids, are now being detected in overdose patients who are taken to hospitals.
The drug is believed to be about a thousand times more potent than morphine, with patients requiring at least two doses of naloxone to combat an overdose.
“Physicians need to be aware of these opioids in drug delivery so they are adequately prepared to care for these patients,” said doctors from Mount Sinai, New York, who issued the warning.
Researchers say Nitazenes, also a synthetic opioid, are now being detected in patients who are taken to hospitals with an overdose
Fentanyl is a highly toxic substance with just two milligrams of it capable of killing an adult.
It has led to a rise in overdose deaths in the US after it was mixed with other drugs to give users a more ‘intense’ high, and is now responsible for nearly two-thirds of deaths. Data shows that about 150 Americans die of drug overdoses every day.
But doctors are expressing concern that another drug – Nitazenes – that is beginning to emerge in the illicit drug supply could lead to even more overdose deaths every year.
In the study, published today in JAMA network openedBetween 2020 and 2022, researchers looked at 537 adults admitted to the emergency room with a suspected drug overdose.
Of these, they found that 11 had tested positive for fentanyl alone.
Nine of them also tested positive for nitazenes, including brorphine, isotonitazene, metonitazene or N-piperidinyletonitazene.
Of the patients who received fentanyl alone, 36 percent needed more than one dose of naloxone and 27 percent were intubated — a tube placed in their trachea.
In comparison, of the nitase patients, 66 percent required more than one dose of naloxone and 50 percent were intubated.
Those who received metonitazene were also more likely to experience cardiac arrest or death than those who took other substances, including fentanyl.
Dr. Alex Manini, an emergency medicine expert at Mount Sinai, said: “Given the alarmingly high rate of cardiac arrest due to nitasene overdose, this study should provide impetus for harm reduction policies.
“And given the emergence of dangerous toxic drugs in the illicit opioid supply in the United States, future research should examine the clinical outcomes of new potent opioids as the supply continues to evolve.”