Over the past 2 decades, the US opioid epidemic has resulted in the deaths of 727,000 individuals by overdose alone1— and in recent years, a startling new complication of opioid use has emerged.
Initially fueled by clinicians’ overprescription of opioid medications, the epidemic has long since shifted into a three-pronged mix of prescription opioids, heroin, and hyper-potent synthetic opioids, most notably fentanyl. Synthetic opioids now constitute much of the illicit drug supply and cause the largest share of overdose deaths.1
Read Article
#Xylazine