U.S. health officials say improper use of patches that emit the painkiller fentanyl is still killing people.
Today's warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the second concerning the powerful narcotic in two years.
The FDA blames some of the deaths on the patches being improperly prescribed to certain patients. Fentanyl should be used to control chronic pain in people already used to narcotics, such as some cancer patients. Yet the FDA has found cases where doctors prescribed it for headaches or post-surgical pain.
Authorities said patients also are accidentally overdosing by putting on more of the patches than prescribed, replacing them too frequently or getting them too hot.
The earlier warning in 2005 noted 120 deaths among users. The FDA did not say how many more deaths it has learned of since then.
In 2005, Health Canada issued a warning about the pain patch Duragesic, which contains fentanyl. It recommended the patch be used only in adults for the "management of persistent, moderate to severe chronic pain that cannot be managed by lesser means."
It recommended the patch not be used for short-term, intermittent or post-operative pain, or in patients who are not already using some form of strong opioid pain medication.
Related
More Health Headlines »
- Northerners should boost vitamin D exposure: study
- People torn between getting enough sunlight — and vitamin D — and risking skin cancer may have their fears allayed by a recent study.
- Health Canada defends drug alert system
- Despite evidence indicating seniors are being prescribed potentially dangerous drugs, Health Canada says it can't do anything more to make its warnings about these medications more effective.
- Q-Ray makers ordered to return $16 M in refunds to consumers
- The makers of the Q-Ray Ionized Bracelet have been ordered to turn over $16 million US in profits, to be paid out in refunds to consumers for false advertising, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Monday.
- Childless men at lower risk of prostate cancer: study
- Men who do not have any children — or have numerous offspring — are at lower risk of developing prostate cancer, research suggests.
- Avian flu viruses don't easily infect people: U.S. scientists
- U.S. scientists may have figured out why avian influenza viruses such as H5N1 don't readily infect people — a finding which could be used in future to watch for bird viruses in the process of becoming a greater pandemic threat.
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles