Science Stats Health & Medicine

Synthetic opioids involved in more deaths than prescription opioids

Deadly, illicit drugs are hard to track

opioid

DEADLY DUOS  Eighty percent of synthetic opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016 were also tied to the simultaneous use of alcohol or another drug (such as another opioid, heroin or cocaine).

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By Aimee Cunningham

- More than 2 years ago

As opioid-related deaths rise in the United States, so has the role of synthetic opioids — primarily illicit fentanyl, mixed into heroin or made into counterfeit pills (SN Online: 3/29/18).