Heroin or fentanyl: Prevalence of confirmed fentanyl in ED patients with suspected heroin overdose
The prevalence of confirmed fentanyl in ED patients with suspected heroin overdose was extremely high, while the prevalence of heroin was very low. There was a high degree of mismatch between the opioids believed to be the overdose agent versus the actual opioids identified on serum toxicology. Clinicians in the United States should presume that fentanyl is involved in all illicit opioid overdoses and should counsel patients on harm reduction measures.
Authors
- Joshua M Shulman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1835-1971)
- Kim Aldy
- Alison Meyn
- Sharan Campleman
- Jonathan Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7484-2521)
- Evan S. Schwarz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5015-2457)
- Stephanie Abston (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1024-8582)
- Siri Shastry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4618-5800)
- Michael Levine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3866-0509)
- Rachel Culbreth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5270-2608)
- Alexandra Amaducci
- Alex J. Krotulski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1775-1882)
- Diane P. Calello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1752-847X)
- Shao Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8709-9167)
- Adrienne Hughes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8602-1299)
- Alex F. Manini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8276-9320)
- Barry Kerr Logan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2400-4711)
- Jeffrey Brent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3763-4755)
- Paul M. Wax
- Bryan Judge
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Baylor University Medical Center (US)
- Lehigh Valley Health Network (US)
- Elmhurst Hospital Center (US)
- Fredric Rieders Family Foundation (US)
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (US)
- American College of Medical Toxicology (US)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Michigan State University (US)
- University of Colorado Denver (US)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open
- Published
- 2024-08-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/emp2.13235
- Citations
- 9
- Primary Topic
- Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.89
Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Drug Abuse