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
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References
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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.