Medscape (12/16, Lowry, Subscription Publication) reports, “The powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is ubiquitous and laced into so many substances of abuse that many patients may not even realize they have been exposed to this key driver of opioid overdose deaths in the US,” research indicated. The “study of more than 700 visits to a psychiatric ED which services US veterans revealed 14% tested positive for fentanyl,” but in these visits, “21% of patients reported no opioid exposure.” These findings “suggest fentanyl screening should become routine in all psychiatric emergency departments (EDs).” The study was recently presented at the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) 30th Annual Meeting.
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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)