Clinical Trend of the Week (June 11-June 17): Fentanyl
Once again, tragedy drove the popularity of this week's top search term. Fentanyl, a powerful opioid, was found to be responsible for the death of pop music superstar Prince. The drug is the most potent opioid available and has become popular among opioid addicts due to its nearly instantaneous high. Overdoses due to fentanyl are a growing problem in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released guidelines intended to reduce the amount of misuse, abuse, and overdoses stemming from opioid use. In particular, fentanyl is so powerful, it may well have been the cause of Prince's death, independent of any other condition. No doubt, physicians increased searches to gain more awareness of this potent opioid and its use and potential misuse.
For more information on opioid toxicity, read here.
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Cite this: Ryan Syrek. Clinical Trends for June 2016 - Medscape - Jun 03, 2016.
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