The Death Of Prince: What Is Fentanyl?
(CBS4) - A lot of us have been speculating for weeks about the death of Prince, and narcotic medications have been at the center of much of that speculation.
Today, officials in Minnesota released a stark, one page autopsy summary: death by accidental overdose of the drug Fentanyl -- a powerful narcotic in what we call the opioid family.
Fentanyl is a big time pain killer, about 100X more potent than morphine, and about 50X more potent than heroin. Yet used properly, Fentanyl is a very useful medication. It's been around since about 1960, and we use it in patients who have just had surgery; people with severe injuries, cancer patients, and other people who cannot take other narcotics such as Oxycontin or Percocet.
But because it is so powerful, Fentanyl has a very narrow window of safe dosing. Take just a bit too much, or mix it with another medication, and your heart will stop or you will simply stop breathing. That's because Fentanyl works in the brain to numb and block pain receptors -- as well as telling the breathing and cardiac centers in the brain to slow down. Slow down too much, and the result is death.
As you might expect, Fentanyl can be extremely addictive. It does relieve pain, but it also can produce a sensation of relaxation as well as a "buzz." It can be given by injection, a skin patch, or lozenge -- it is unconfirmed, but suspected, that Prince had used an injectable form, which gets into the system very rapidly, and therefore more dangerous because of its ability to do so. Addiction or tolerance can happen quickly (some say weeks), and withdrawal can begin within hours to days.
Fentanyl is the drug that has made news in recent months and years for other reasons, namely hospital workers illegally diverting the drug for their own use.
More info will come in the days ahead, but one thing to know is this: celebrity or no-celebrity -- Fentanyl is at the forefront of the opioid crisis we are seeing in America today. It spares no one. And that has doctors very worried.
Dr. Dave Hnida is CBS4's Medical Editor. He blogs about the latest studies and trends in the health world. Read his latest blog entries, check out his bio or follow him on Twitter @drdavehnida
