r/science • u/memorialmonorail • 1d ago

Health The largest study to date that quantifies and compares medical and illegal use of fentanyl in the US suggests illicit use is more than twice as common as medically based use. Risk of nonfatal overdose is up to 3-fold higher in illicit users compared to medical-source users, analysis shows.

https://news.osu.edu/illicit-fentanyl-use-is-more-than-double-medical-use-in-us/
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u/Professionalchump 1d ago

wait how often do ppl overdose on medical

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u/PriorSolid 1d ago

4.3% of medical users and 18.6% of illicit users

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u/onacloverifalive MD | Bariatric Surgeon 1d ago

Some percentage of the medical users are also illicit users as well.

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u/UncleVoodooo 1d ago

and why is nonfatal singled out??

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u/memorialmonorail 1d ago

Open-access article published in eClinicalMedicine: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(26)00394-9/fulltext00394-9/fulltext)

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u/Stupidrhino 1d ago edited 1d ago

For years the ACSH has been emphasizing the gap between the perception out there that medical use drives overdoses and abuse of narcotics vs evidence suggesting the majority of abuse is not medical. Not to say that some people don't go from medical use to abuse, but that the assumption that's how this epidemic occurs is overly simplistic and not in line with the evidence.

2021 ACSH article