CDC: Multiple Naloxone Doses May Be Needed for Fentanyl Overdoses

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD

Multiple doses of naloxone may be needed to revive a patient after a fentanyl overdose, given fentanyl's higher potency compared with other opioids, the CDC advised healthcare providers on Monday.

In particular, nonpharmaceutical fentanyl — that is, illegally manufactured fentanyl and its analogs, often mixed with heroin or cocaine — tends to be especially potent. Such products were involved in most of the more than 700 fentanyl-related overdose deaths reported to the Drug Enforcement Agency from late 2013 through 2014.

The CDC noted that in 2014, over 80% of fentanyl seizures occurred in just 10 states. Here are the states, in descending order by number of seizures: Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Kentucky, Virginia, Florida, New Hampshire, and Indiana.