PITTSBURGH — The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs issued a warning Friday about fentanyl and its derivative, acetyl fentanyl, a deadly drug that resembles heroin, but is much more potent.
The department said the drug has caused 50 deaths in Pennsylvania this year.
After recently confirming five overdoses, including one fatality, the department called upon coroners and medical examiners across Pennsylvania to screen for the drug on all apparent heroin and other opioid deaths, in order to accurately track the extent of the problem.
As a result, the department determined that recreational use of both versions of the drug has resulted in at least 50 confirmed fatalities and five non-fatal overdoses statewide this year.
Overdoses have been confirmed in Allegheny, Beaver, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Delaware, Erie, Lebanon, Lehigh, Philadelphia, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Fentanyl is a prescription narcotic used to relieve severe or chronic pain, commonly used for cancer patients or as a last-resort pain medication. It's available as a skin patch, lozenge, pill, shot, a film that dissolves in the mouth, or intravenously.
As a recreational drug, acetyl fentanyl can often resemble heroin, as it has the same consistency, color and packaging. If a heroin user unknowingly mistakes fentanyl for heroin and takes too much of the drug, the user is at high risk of a fatal overdose. During the last major fentanyl overdose outbreak in 2006, there were 269 deaths in Philadelphia alone.