Misinformation about fentanyl exposure threatens to undermine overdose response

By Henry Larweh KFF Healthcare News Fentanyl the deadly synthetic opioid driving the nation s high drug overdose rates is also caught up in another increasingly serious predicament misinformation False and misleading narratives on social media in news reports and even in popular television dramas suggesting people can overdose from touching fentanyl rather than ingesting it are now informing approach and spending decisions In an episode of the CBS cop drama Blue Bloods for instance Detective Maria Baez becomes comatose after accidentally touching powdered fentanyl In another drama S W A T Sgt Daniel Hondo Harrelson warns his co-workers You touch the pure stuff without wearing gloves say good night Related Articles Is your teen sleep-deprived These expert bedtime tips could help Sleep training is no longer just for babies Various schools are teaching teens how to sleep -year-old cat is feeling her age States push Medicaid work rules but limited programs help enrollees find jobs Taking a mental strength leave from work is an option preponderance people don t know about While fentanyl-related deaths have drastically risen over the past decade no evidence suggests any resulted from incidentally touching or inhaling it and little to no evidence that any resulted from consuming it in marijuana products Fresh statistics indicates that fentanyl-related deaths have begun to drop There is also almost no evidence that law enforcement personnel are at heightened vulnerability of accidental overdoses due to such exposures Still there is a steady stream of reports which generally turn out to be false of officers allegedly becoming ill after handling fentanyl It s only in the TV dramas where that happens mentioned Brandon del Pozo a retired Burlington Vermont police chief who researches policing and citizens strength policies and practices at Brown University In fact fentanyl overdoses are commonly caused by ingesting the drug illicitly as a pill or powder And the majority accidental exposures occur when people who use drugs even those who do not use opioids unknowingly consume fentanyl because it is so often used to cut street drugs such as heroin and cocaine Despite what scientific evidence suggests about fentanyl and its risks misinformation can persist in masses discourse and among first responders on the front lines of the emergency Daniel Meloy a senior neighborhood engagement specialist at the drug recovery organizations Operation Save Lives and QRT National explained he thinks of misinformation as more of an unknown than it is an anxiety or a fear We re experiencing it often before the information can be understood and shared by community healthcare and addiction medicine practitioners Meloy commented Specific state and local governments are investing money from their share of the billions in opioid settlement funds in efforts to protect first responders from purported risks perpetuated through fentanyl misinformation In and cities towns and counties across eight states used settlement funds to purchase drug detection devices for law enforcement agencies spending just over million altogether Two mass spectrometers were purchased for at least for the Greeley Colorado police department to protect those who are tasked with handling those substances Del Pozo the retired police chief commented fentanyl is present in largest part illicit opioids uncovered at the scene of an arrest But that doesn t mean you need to spend a lot of money on fentanyl detection for officer safety he reported If that spending decision is motivated by officer safety concerns then it s misspent money del Pozo noted Fentanyl misinformation is affecting plan in other options too Florida for instance has on the books a law that makes it a second-degree felony to cause an overdose or bodily injury to a first responder through this kind of secondhand fentanyl exposure Similar rule has been considered by states such as Tennessee and West Virginia the latter stipulating a penalty of years to life imprisonment if the exposure results in death Constituents medical advocates worry these laws will make people shy away from seeking help for people who are overdosing A lot of people leave overdose scenes because they don t want to interact with police stated Erin Russell a principal with Healthcare Management Associates a vitality care industry research and consulting firm Florida does include a caveat in its statute that any person acting in good faith to seek diagnostic assistance for someone they believe to be overdosing may not be arrested charged or prosecuted And even when community agenda is crafted to protect first responders as well as regular people misinformation can undermine a operation s messaging Take Mississippi s One Pill Can Kill initiative Led by the state attorney general Lynn Fitch the initiative aims to provide materials and teaching to Mississippi residents about fentanyl and its risks While it promotes the availability and use of harm reduction tools such as naloxone and fentanyl test strips Fitch has also propped up misinformation At the Mississippi Coalition of Bail Sureties conference Fitch explained If you figure out that pill s got fentanyl you better be ready to dispose of it because you can get it through your fingers based on the repeatedly debunked belief that a person can overdose by totally touching fentanyl Officers on the ground meanwhile sometimes are warned to proceed with caution in providing lifesaving interventions at overdose scenes because of these alleged accidental exposure risks This caution is often evidenced in a push to provide first responders with masks and other personal protective equipment Fitch communicated the crowd at the conference You can t just go out and give CPR like you did before However as with other secondhand exposures the pitfall for a fentanyl overdose from applying mouth-to-mouth is negligible with no clinical evidence to suggest it has occurred Her comments underscore growing concerns often not supported by science that officers and first responders increasingly face exposure risks during overdose responses Her office did not respond to questions about these comments Vitality care experts say they are not against providing first responders with protective equipment but that fentanyl misinformation is clouding framework and risks delaying critical interventions such as CPR and rescue breathing People are afraid to do rescue breathing because they re like Well what if there s fentanyl in the person s mouth Russell reported Hesitating for even a moment because of fentanyl misinformation could delay a technique that is incredibly pivotal in an overdose response KFF Wellness News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC