Drug overdose | |
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Other names | Overdose, OD, Hotshot, Wasted, Intoxication, Gassed, Medicinal Poisoning |
A photograph showing a person who had overdosed | |
Specialty | Toxicology |
Symptoms | Vary depending on the drug and the amount used |
Complications |
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Causes |
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Risk factors | |
Differential diagnosis | |
Treatment |
A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. [2] [3] Typically it is used for cases when a risk to health will potentially result. [2] An overdose may result in a toxic state or death. [3]
The word "overdose" implies that there is a common safe dosage and usage for the drug; therefore, the term is commonly applied only to drugs, not poisons, even though many poisons as well are harmless at a low enough dosage. Drug overdose is sometimes used as a means to commit suicide, as the result of intentional or unintentional misuse of medication. Intentional misuse leading to overdose can include using prescribed or non-prescribed drugs in excessive quantities in an attempt to produce euphoria.
Usage of illicit drugs, in large quantities, or after a period of drug abstinence can also induce overdose. Cocaine and opioid users who inject intravenously can easily overdose accidentally, as the margin between a pleasurable drug sensation and an overdose is small. [4] Unintentional misuse can include errors in dosage caused by failure to read or understand product labels. Accidental overdoses may also be the result of over-prescription, failure to recognize a drug's active ingredient or unwitting ingestion by children. [5] A common unintentional overdose in young children involves multivitamins containing iron.
The term 'overdose' is often misused as a descriptor for adverse drug reactions or negative drug interactions due to mixing multiple drugs simultaneously.
Signs and symptoms of an overdose vary depending on the drug or exposure to toxins. The symptoms can often be divided into differing toxidromes. This can help one determine what class of drug or toxin is causing the difficulties.
Symptoms of opioid overdoses include slow breathing, heart rate and pulse. [6] Opioid overdoses can also cause pinpoint pupils, and blue lips and nails due to low levels of oxygen in the blood. A person experiencing an opioid overdose might also have muscle spasms, seizures and decreased consciousness. A person experiencing an opiate overdose usually will not wake up, even if their name is called or they are shaken vigorously.
The drugs or toxins that are most frequently involved in overdose and death (grouped by ICD-10):
Masking undesired taste may impair judgement of the potency, which is a factor in overdosing. For example, lean is usually created as a drinkable mixture, the cough syrup is combined with soft drinks, especially fruit-flavored drinks such as Sprite, Mountain Dew or Fanta, and is typically served in a foam cup. [7] [8] A hard candy, usually a Jolly Rancher, may be added to give the mixture a sweeter flavor. [9]
The substance that has been taken may often be determined by asking the person. However, if they will not, or cannot, due to an altered level of consciousness, provide this information, a search of the home or questioning of friends and family may be helpful.
Examination for toxidromes, drug testing, or laboratory test may be helpful. Other laboratory test such as glucose, urea and electrolytes, paracetamol levels and salicylate levels are typically done. Negative drug-drug interactions have sometimes been misdiagnosed as an acute drug overdose, occasionally leading to the assumption of suicide. [10]
Symptoms | Blood Pressure | Heart rate | Respiratory Rate | Temperature | Pupils | Bowel Sounds | Diaphoresis |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anticholinergic | ~ [ clarification needed ] | up | ~ | up | dilated | down | down |
Cholinergic | ~ | ~ | unchanged | unchanged | constricted | up | up |
Opioid | down | down | down | down | constricted | down | down |
Sympathomimetic | up | up | up | up | dilated | up | up |
Sedative-hypnotic | down | down | down | down | ~ | down | down |
The distribution of naloxone to injection drug users and other opioid drug users decreases the risk of death from overdose. [12] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that U.S. programs for drug users and their caregivers prescribing take-home doses of naloxone and training on its utilization are estimated to have prevented 10,000 opioid overdose deaths. [13] Healthcare institution-based naloxone prescription programs have also helped reduce rates of opioid overdose in the U.S. state of North Carolina, and have been replicated in the U.S. military. [14] [15] Nevertheless, scale-up of healthcare-based opioid overdose interventions is limited by providers' insufficient knowledge and negative attitudes towards prescribing take-home naloxone to prevent opioid overdose. [16] Programs training police and fire personnel in opioid overdose response using naloxone have also shown promise in the U.S. [17]
Supervised injection sites (also known as overdose prevention centers) have been used to help prevent drug overdoses by offering opioid reversal medications such as naloxone, medical assistance and treatment options. They also provide clean needles to help prevent the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. [18] [19] [20] [21]
Stabilization of the person's airway, breathing, and circulation (ABCs) is the initial treatment of an overdose. Ventilation is considered when there is a low respiratory rate or when blood gases show the person to be hypoxic. Monitoring of the patient should continue before and throughout the treatment process, with particular attention to temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure, urine output, electrocardiography (ECG) and O2 saturation. [22] Poison control centers and medical toxicologists are available in many areas to provide guidance in overdoses both to physicians and to the general public.
Specific antidotes are available for certain overdoses. For example, naloxone is the antidote for opiates such as heroin or morphine. Similarly, benzodiazepine overdoses may be effectively reversed with flumazenil. As a nonspecific antidote, activated charcoal is frequently recommended if available within one hour of the ingestion and the ingestion is significant. [23] Gastric lavage, syrup of ipecac, and whole bowel irrigation are rarely used. [23]
The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(December 2022) |
The UN gives a figure of 300,000 deaths per year in the world through drug overdose.
1,015,060 US residents died from drug overdoses from 1968 to 2019. 22 people out of every 100,000 died from drug overdoses in 2019 in the US. [25] From 1999 to Feb 2019 in the United States, more than 770,000 people have died from drug overdoses. [26]
In the US around 107,500 people died in the 12-month period ending August 31, 2022, at a rate of 294 deaths per day. [27] 70,630 people died from drug overdoses in 2019. [28] The U.S. drug overdose death rate has gone from 2.5 per 100,000 people in 1968 to 21.5 per 100,000 in 2019. [25]
The National Center for Health Statistics reports that 19,250 people died of accidental poisoning in the U.S. in the year 2004 (eight deaths per 100,000 population). [29]
In 2008 testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Leonard J. Paulozzi, [30] a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that in 2005 more than 22,000 American people died due to overdoses, and the number is growing rapidly. Paulozzi also testified that all available evidence suggests unintentional overdose deaths are related to the increasing use of prescription drugs, especially opioid painkillers. [31] However, the vast majority of overdoses are also attributable to alcohol. It is very rare for a victim of an overdose to have consumed just one drug. Most overdoses occur when drugs are ingested in combination with alcohol. [32]
Drug overdose was the leading cause of injury death in 2013. Among people 25 to 64 years old, drug overdose caused more deaths than motor vehicle traffic crashes. There were 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2013. Of these, 22,767 (51.8%) were related to prescription drugs. [33]
The 22,767 deaths relating to prescription drug overdose in 2013, 16,235 (71.3%) involved opioid painkillers, and 6,973 (30.6%) involved benzodiazepines. Drug misuse and abuse caused about 2.5 million emergency department (ED) visits in 2011. Of these, more than 1.4 million ED visits were related to prescription drugs. Among those ED visits, 501,207 visits were related to anti-anxiety and insomnia medications, and 420,040 visits were related to opioid analgesics. [34]
New CDC data in 2024 demonstrates U.S. drug overdose deaths have significantly declined, marking the potential for the first year with fewer than 100,000 fatalities since 2020. [35] The CDC data shows a nearly 17% drop in reported overdose deaths during the 12 months ending in June, totaling 93,087. [36] This is a notable decrease from the 111,615 deaths recorded in the same period ending in June 2023. While the opioid crisis continues to take a heavy toll, fentanyl remains a major driver, contributing to the majority of these fatalities. [37]
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the dried latex of the opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Heroin is used medically in several countries to relieve pain, such as during childbirth or a heart attack, as well as in opioid replacement therapy. Medical-grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown powders sold illegally around the world as heroin are routinely diluted with cutting agents. Black tar heroin is a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), which is the result of crude acetylation during clandestine production of street heroin.
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic. It is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine; its primary clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgeries. Fentanyl is also used as a sedative. Depending on the method of delivery, fentanyl can be very fast acting and ingesting a relatively small quantity can cause overdose. Fentanyl works by activating μ-opioid receptors. Fentanyl is sold under the brand names Actiq, Duragesic, and Sublimaze, among others.
Naloxone is an opioid antagonist: a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. For example, it is used to restore breathing after an opioid overdose. It is also known as Narcan. Effects begin within two minutes when given intravenously, five minutes when injected into a muscle, and ten minutes as a nasal spray. Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids for 30 to 90 minutes.
Opioids are a class of drugs that derive from, or mimic, natural substances found in the opium poppy plant. Opioids work in the brain to produce a variety of effects, including pain relief. As a class of substances, they act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects.
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. This disorder is much more prevalent than first realized. Opioid withdrawal symptoms include nausea, muscle aches, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, agitation, and a low mood. Addiction and dependence are important components of opioid use disorder.
Oxymorphone is a highly potent opioid analgesic indicated for treatment of severe pain. Pain relief after injection begins after about 5–10 minutes, after oral administration it begins after about 30 minutes, and lasts about 3–4 hours for immediate-release tablets and 12 hours for extended-release tablets. The elimination half-life of oxymorphone is much faster intravenously, and as such, the drug is most commonly used orally. Like oxycodone, which metabolizes to oxymorphone, oxymorphone has a high potential to be abused.
Substance abuse prevention, also known as drug abuse prevention, is a process that attempts to prevent the onset of substance use or limit the development of problems associated with using psychoactive substances. Prevention efforts may focus on the individual or their surroundings. A concept that is known as "environmental prevention" focuses on changing community conditions or policies so that the availability of substances is reduced as well as the demand. Individual Substance Abuse Prevention, also known as drug abuse prevention involves numerous different sessions depending on the individual to help cease or reduce the use of substances. The time period to help a specific individual can vary based upon many aspects of an individual. The type of Prevention efforts should be based upon the individual's necessities which can also vary. Substance use prevention efforts typically focus on minors and young adults — especially between 12–35 years of age. Substances typically targeted by preventive efforts include alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, coke, methamphetamine, steroids, club drugs, and opioids. Community advocacy against substance use is imperative due to the significant increase in opioid overdoses in the United States alone. It has been estimated that about one hundred and thirty individuals continue to lose their lives daily due to opioid overdoses alone.
An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to respiratory depression, a lethal condition that can cause hypoxia from slow and shallow breathing. Other symptoms include small pupils and unconsciousness; however, its onset can depend on the method of ingestion, the dosage and individual risk factors. Although there were over 110,000 deaths in 2017 due to opioids, individuals who survived also faced adverse complications, including permanent brain damage.
Benzodiazepine overdose describes the ingestion of one of the drugs in the benzodiazepine class in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced. The most common symptoms of overdose include central nervous system (CNS) depression, impaired balance, ataxia, and slurred speech. Severe symptoms include coma and respiratory depression. Supportive care is the mainstay of treatment of benzodiazepine overdose. There is an antidote, flumazenil, but its use is controversial.
Acetylfentanyl is an opioid analgesic drug that is an analog of fentanyl. Studies have estimated acetylfentanyl to be 15 times more potent than morphine, which would mean that despite being somewhat weaker than fentanyl, it is nevertheless still several times stronger than pure heroin. It has never been licensed for medical use and instead has only been sold on the illicit drug market. Acetylfentanyl was discovered at the same time as fentanyl itself and had only rarely been encountered on the illicit market in the late 1980s. However, in 2013, Canadian police seized 3 kilograms of acetylfentanyl. As a μ-opioid receptor agonist, acetylfentanyl may serve as a direct substitute for oxycodone, heroin or other opioids. Common side effects of fentanyl analogs are similar to those of fentanyl itself, which include itching, nausea, and potentially fatal respiratory depression. Fentanyl analogs have killed hundreds of people throughout Europe and the former Soviet republics since the most recent resurgence in use began in Estonia in the early 2000s, and novel derivatives continue to appear.
Buprenorphine/naloxone, sold under the brand name Suboxone among others, is a fixed-dose combination medication that includes buprenorphine and naloxone. It is used to treat opioid use disorder, and reduces the mortality of opioid use disorder by 50%. It relieves cravings to use and withdrawal symptoms. Buprenorphine/naloxone is available for use in two different forms, under the tongue or in the cheek.
There is an ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States, originating out of both medical prescriptions and illegal sources. It has been called "one of the most devastating public health catastrophes of our time". The opioid epidemic unfolded in three waves. The first wave of the epidemic in the United States began in the late 1990s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when opioids were increasingly prescribed for pain management, resulting in a rise in overall opioid use throughout subsequent years. The second wave was from an expansion in the heroin market to supply already addicted people. The third wave starting in 2013 was marked by a steep 1,040% increase in the synthetic opioid-involved death rate as synthetic opioids flooded the US market.
A take-home naloxone program is a governmental program that provides naloxone drug kits to those that are at risk of an opioid overdose. Naloxone is a medication that was created to reverse opioid overdoses. As an opioid antagonist, it binds to the μ-opioid receptors blocking the opioid's effects. Naloxone quickly restores normal respiration. The ongoing opioid epidemic has caused many public health authorities to expand access to naloxone.
The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs called opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the significant medical, social, psychological, demographic and economic consequences of the medical, non-medical, and recreational abuse of these medications.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has data on drug overdose death rates and totals. Around 1,106,900 US residents died from drug overdoses from 1968 to 2020. Around 932,400 died from 1999 through 2020. Around 93,700 died in 2020. Opioids were involved in around 80,400 of the around 109,200 deaths in 2021. Synthetic opioids other than methadone were involved with 70,601 deaths in 2021. Around 111,000 people died in 2022. Around 108,500 in 2023.
Prescription drug addiction is the chronic, repeated use of a prescription drug in ways other than prescribed for, including using someone else’s prescription. A prescription drug is a pharmaceutical drug that may not be dispensed without a legal medical prescription. Drugs in this category are supervised due to their potential for misuse and substance use disorder. The classes of medications most commonly abused are opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants and central nervous stimulants. In particular, prescription opioid is most commonly abused in the form of prescription analgesics.
Harm reduction consists of a series of strategies aimed at reducing the negative impacts of drug use on users. It has been described as an alternative to the U.S.'s moral model and disease model of drug use and addiction. While the moral model treats drug use as a morally wrong action and the disease model treats it as a biological or genetic disease needing medical intervention, harm reduction takes a public health approach with a basis in pragmatism. Harm reduction provides an alternative to complete abstinence as a method for preventing and mitigating the negative consequences of drug use and addiction.
New Jersey's most recent revised policy was issued September 7, 2022 pursuant to P.L.2021, c.152 which authorized opioid antidotes to be dispensed without a prescription or fee. Its goal is to make opioid antidotes widely available, reducing mortality from overdose while decreasing morbidity in conjunction with sterile needle access, fentanyl test strips, and substance use treatment programs. A $67 million grant provided by the Department of Health and Human Services provides funding for naloxone as well as recovery services. This policy enables any person to distribute an opioid antidote to someone they deem at risk of an opioid overdose, alongside information regarding: opioid overdose prevention and recognition, the administration of naloxone, circumstances that warrant calling 911 for assistance with an opioid overdose, and contraindications of naloxone. Instructions on how to perform resuscitation and the appropriate care of an overdose victim after the administration of an opioid antidote should also be included. Community first aid squads, professional organizations, police departments, and emergency departments are required to "leave-behind" naloxone and information with every person who overdosed or is at risk of overdosing.
Since 2017, the number of fatalities in California attributable to synthetic opioids has increased by 1,027%. Fentanyl has caused 20% of deaths among California's teenagers and young adults. California has made legal efforts to tackle the opioid issue, including patrols, assistance grants, and education.
In response to the surging opioid prescription rates by health care providers that contributed to the opioid epidemic in the United States, US states began passing legislation to stifle high-risk prescribing practices. These new laws fell primarily into one of the following four categories: