The Ohio Attorney General called it a “Frankenstein opioid.”
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (RHC) — Nitazen, a synthetic opioid up to 40 times more potent than fentanyl, is further complicating the drug addiction crisis in the United States, a news site warned.
The compound, which comes in powder, tablet, and liquid forms, is potentially deadly and can even lead to a more severe onset of withdrawal symptoms, the Axios website noted.
The emergence of this new substance comes as law enforcement and public health officials grapple with increased use of the “sedative,” a mix of animal tranquilizers and fentanyl that caught the attention of the White House and is found in at least 36 states and America became Washington, DC
However, the source added, most hospitals and medical examiners do not routinely test for both substances, and hospital data do not differentiate between nitazen and fentanyl poisoning cases.
For example, a Centers for Disease Control review of Nitazen deaths in Tennessee concluded that Nitazen use could require up to four doses of naloxone, the reversal drug indicated after Nitazen use.
There, overdoses linked to the connection rose from 10 to 42 between 2020 and 2021, according to the company, which also pointed to the likelihood of the numbers being underestimated.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last June reported the presence of this substance mixed with heroin or fentanyl in the Washington, DC area, while Philadelphia health officials issued a public alert a few weeks ago after spotting it on four street signs .
Likewise, Nitazen was labeled a “Frankenstein opioid” in an April 2022 Ohio Attorney General Alert and reported a nearly seven-fold increase in cases affected by the drug (from 27 to 143) between the first quarter of 2021 and 2022.
The report found that the fact that health departments do not receive toxicology data from hospital emergency departments due to data protection restrictions limits the amount of information known to date. (Source:PL)