United States – A new study shows that the frequency with which young Americans end up in hospital ICUs after using fake Oxycontin pills laced with fentanyl is increasing rapidly, particularly in the U. S. West.
A team from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention cited information on medical toxicology from one unnamed hospital in the western U. S. wherein the number of cases of overdoses involving the fake “M-30” Oxycontin pills, which are officially known as tablets containing oxycodone, increased from just three in the year 2017 to 209 in the year 2022, as reported by HealthDay.
High ICU Admissions and Mortality Rates
For the majority of patients (81%), hospital care was needed, and over two-thirds of those also had at least one stay in the ICU. According to the report, two patients died while in the hospital.
Young men were the most likely victims: It found that 71% of cases were male, and patients aged between 15 and 34 years most affected more than two-thirds of cases, according to a team led by CDC researcher Emily Glidden.
The scenario that the hospital has depicted is the actual situation that is experienced all over the country.
“These findings are in line with similar trends observed nationally and regionally,” the team noted in a report that was made in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report journal on July 25.
They also observe that counterfeit M-30 Oxycontin (oxycodone) pills entered the black market in the United States in 2014. They are often mixed with fentanyl that can be lethal and the drugs are ingested by placing them in the throat or snorted after being crushed, the researchers said.
Prevalence of Fentanyl`-Laced Pills
They observed that today, six out of every ten hides of counterfeit tablets that police arrest contain potentially fatal concentrations of fentanyl.
Presently, Glidden’s group pointed out that a number of users may assume that they are purchasing and consuming genuine oxycodone pills; however, there is evidence that some persons may purposefully use counterfeit pills with illegally made fentanyl.
According to the team, there is evidence to support the possibility that individuals who previously injected themselves with heroin may now be taking pills containing fentanyl in a bid to get high without needles.
Unfortunately, the outcomes of such action can be lethal at times.
Notably, according to the CDC team, fentanyl-related deaths from counterfeit pills have tripled across the United States West between July 2019 and December 2021; such incidences are on the rise across the country.
Rising Fentanyl-Related Deaths
Young people were also targeted with 57. 1 percent of those that died being under the age of 35.
The danger to teens is especially troubling: Preliminary findings show that overdose deaths related to counterfeit pills containing fentanyl “rose significantly across 31 states” between mid 2019 and late 2021, and counterfeit pills contributed to evidence of fatal overdose among teens.
Polydrug Use Complicates the Crisis
The picture that emerged in the remaining majority of overdose cases noted at the hospital studied by Glidden was not different either. In addition to fentanyl, other substances including meth (66. 2% of cases), benzodiazepines such as Xanax or Valium (17% ) or cocaine (5. 1%) were found in patients, as reported by HealthDay.
What measures can and must be taken to minimize the mortality and severe outcomes?
According to Glidden’s team, “outreach focusing on younger persons misusing prescription pills, improving access to harm reduction [interventions], and linking patients treated for overdoses in hospitals to substance use treatment might help prevent overdoses involving counterfeit pills.”