The fentanyl factor Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, is increasingly showing up across the United States with deadly results. In this study, researchers found that among all substances, fentanyl was the most likely to be found in combination with multiple other drugs. In some specimens, it was detected with as many as 12 others — indicating that users either aren’t aware what is in their drugs or that users of fentanyl are regularly using many different drugs simultaneously. “I’ve had a number of patients who once they were told they were fentanyl positive… started to seek treatment,” he added. Currently, fentanyl doesn’t show up on common “dip tests” used in hospitals, but Dezman hopes that will soon change. Synthetic cannabinoids, fentanyl, and synthetic cathinones represent a new challenge for members in the healthcare community to identify and treat, but by understanding which drugs are being used in which communities, better education and treatment options can be developed. “We can track people down to a particular area code, and that allows us to do things like create, potentially, a mobile van for education efforts to educate the neighborhood on the dangers they are being exposed to, signs to look out for an opioid overdose, distribute naloxone, and potentially also start a mobile opioid maintenance therapy van [to provide] methadone or Suboxone,” said Dezman. People “want to know what they’ve been exposed to,” said Dezman.
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