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HOW FENTANYL SLIPPED OUT OF THE OPERATING ROOM AND INTO THE HOME
Every Drug Has A Beginning
Most Opioids Came From A Flower
Fentanyl Came From A Chemist's Bench
It Was Engineered To Be Faster And Stronger Than Morphine
Built For The Operating Room Where Every Second Counts
That Was The Design
This Is Where It Came From
THIS NEWSLETTER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOTHING IN THIS CONTENT CONSTITUTES MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY HEALTH RELATED DECISIONS
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OKAY BACK TO THE OLD LAB BENCH 🧪
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BUILT FROM SCRATCH IN 1959 ⚗️
Morphine And Codeine Came From The Opium Poppy
Fentanyl Was Different
It Was Built From Scratch In A Laboratory
In 1959 The Belgian Chemist Paul Janssen First Synthesized It
He Founded Janssen Pharmaceutica And Was Hunting For Something Better Than Morphine
Janssen Modified The Structure Of An Existing Painkiller Called Pethidine
That Drug Was Also Known As Meperidine Or Demerol
He Wanted A Faster Acting And More Potent Opioid With Less Nausea
The Result Was Roughly 50 To 100 Times More Potent Than Morphine
It Also Hit The Brain Far Faster
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THE SURGICAL MIRACLE 🏥
Fentanyl Citrate Was Marketed As Sublimaze
The United States Approved It For Intravenous Use In 1968
Surgeons And Anesthesiologists Adopted It Rapidly
Doctors Valued It Because It Came On Fast
It Wore Off Predictably And Was Extremely Powerful
That Control Made Delicate Surgery Safer
One More Edge Set It Apart
Fentanyl Caused Less Nausea Than Morphine
For A While It Lived Almost Entirely Inside The Hospital
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FROM PATCH TO LOLLIPOP 🩹
Then Fentanyl Began To Leave The Operating Room
In 1990 The Duragesic Transdermal Patch Was Developed By The Alza Corporation
That Patch Was An Extended Release Skin Delivery System
For The First Time Fentanyl Could Be Worn At Home
Doctors Prescribed It For Chronic Pain Outside The Hospital
In 1998 Actiq Arrived As An Oral Lozenge On A Stick
People Sometimes Called It The Fentanyl Lollipop
It Was Approved For Breakthrough Cancer Pain In Patients Already Tolerant To Opioids
The Through Line Was Clear
A Precise Hospital Tool Gradually Moved Into Homes And Everyday Prescriptions
