In early 2015, Hospital A emergency physicians subjectively noticed an increase in
opioid overdoses presenting to the emergency department (ED) that corresponded with
an increase in fentanyl-positive substance-related deaths documented by the Fulton
County medical examiner (ME). This prompted Hospital A emergency physicians to begin
selective fentanyl urine drug screening (UDS) for patients with clinical signs of
opioid intoxication. After testing revealed that some patients had UDS positive for
fentanyl, Hospital A began testing for fentanyl as part of all routine UDS in May
2015 and notified the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) of their findings.
Fentanyl had not been commonly reported as associated with substance abuse and overdose
in Georgia before this cluster. DPH initiated an epidemiologic investigation to characterize
events and guide prevention efforts.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
One-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to The American Journal of Emergency MedicineAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Fentanyl homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (HEIA™) product data sheet, MKT50368 REV1 October 2016.(Available at:)https://immunalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Fentanyl_HEIA_MKT50368_2.pdfDate accessed: January 30, 2017
- An epidemic of illicit fentanyl deaths in Cook County, Illinois: September 2005 through April 2007.J Forensic Sci. 2008; 53: 452-454
- Nonpharmaceutical fentanyl-related deaths—multiple states, April 2005–March 2007.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2008; 57: 793-796
- Fentanyl epidemic in Chicago, Illinois and surrounding Cook County.Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2008; 46: 501-506
- Fentanyl-associated fatalities among illicit drug users in Wayne County, Michigan (July 2005–May 2006).J Med Toxicol. 2013; 9: 106-115
- Notes from the field: increase in fentanyl-related overdose deaths—Rhode Island, November 2013–March 2014.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014; 63: 531
- Fatal fentanyl: one pill can kill.Acad Emerg Med. 2017 Jan; 24: 106-113
- Influx of fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and toxic fentanyl-related compounds further increases risk of fentanyl-related overdose and fatalities, August 25, 2016, CDCHAN-00395.(Available at:) (Accessed January 30, 2017)
Article Info
Publication History
Published online: March 20, 2018
Accepted:
March 19,
2018
Received in revised form:
March 18,
2018
Received:
June 16,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
