Synthetic Opioids Are Now the Leading Cause of Overdose Deaths

Synthetic opioids have overtaken prescription opioids as the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S., according to a report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, which studied 2010-2016 mortality data.

The report found that synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, a drug significantly more potent than morphine, were responsible for around 46 percent of the 42,249 opioid-related overdose deaths, while 40 percent of deaths involved prescription drugs. It marked a dramatic increase from 2010, when synthetic drugs were behind only approximately 14 percent of overdose deaths.

It also noticed a trend in fentanyl overdoses — the presence of alcohol or another drug in the victim’s system. Almost 80 percent of overdose victims had another substance in their system, it said. Of approximately 12,000 heroin-related deaths in 2016, 37 percent involved synthetic opioids.