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https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/22/health/illegal-fentanyl-driving-opioid-epidemic-cdc-bn/index.html
'Opioid overdose epidemic continues to worsen and evolve,' CDC says
(CNN) Illegally manufactured fentanyl was the driving force behind a 45.2% increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids from 2016 to 2017, according to a new report published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In all, there were 70,237 drug overdose deaths in 2017. Opioids were involved in 67.8%, or 47,600 of those deaths. Of those opioid-involved overdose deaths, 59.8% of them, or 28,466, were due to synthetic opioids.
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My education & career were in the field of organic chemistry, later specializing in the field of drug manufacturing - trying to sell drug companies raw materials they would need to produce a new drug on a commercial scale once it won FDA approval after successful clinical trials. A necessary part of the job was learning how drugs are made starting from simpler raw materials. Fentanyl is so deadly because it is a very simple molecule that can be made on a semi-commercial scale easily in modestly equipped labs starting from easily obtained starting materials. Cheap to make, the huge markup as an illicit drug is a strong draw for the producers to get into the fentanyl business. And the results to many end users is both tragic & catastrophic.
'Opioid overdose epidemic continues to worsen and evolve,' CDC says
(CNN) Illegally manufactured fentanyl was the driving force behind a 45.2% increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids from 2016 to 2017, according to a new report published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In all, there were 70,237 drug overdose deaths in 2017. Opioids were involved in 67.8%, or 47,600 of those deaths. Of those opioid-involved overdose deaths, 59.8% of them, or 28,466, were due to synthetic opioids.
===============================================
My education & career were in the field of organic chemistry, later specializing in the field of drug manufacturing - trying to sell drug companies raw materials they would need to produce a new drug on a commercial scale once it won FDA approval after successful clinical trials. A necessary part of the job was learning how drugs are made starting from simpler raw materials. Fentanyl is so deadly because it is a very simple molecule that can be made on a semi-commercial scale easily in modestly equipped labs starting from easily obtained starting materials. Cheap to make, the huge markup as an illicit drug is a strong draw for the producers to get into the fentanyl business. And the results to many end users is both tragic & catastrophic.
