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Hard-to-detect synthetic opioids evade fentanyl test strips, toxicologist warns
WTOP News • • health
Key Points:
- Over 800,000 Americans have died from opioid overdoses since 1999, with the evolving drug supply complicating efforts to track the crisis, according to Dr. Chris Holstege of UVA Health’s Blue Ridge Poison Center.
- A new class of synthetic opioids called "orphines," as potent as fentanyl but undetectable by fentanyl test strips, is emerging as a significant concern; these substances are illegal and not FDA-approved in the U.S.
- Orphines can cause severe symptoms like pinpoint pupils, sedation, and respiratory failure, and have been found mixed in heroin, counterfeit pills, amphetamines, and other stimulants.
- While naloxone can counteract orphine overdoses, stronger opioids may require multiple doses, and naloxone does not reverse effects of other substances often mixed with orphines.
- UVA Health has not yet detected orphines locally, but Dr. Holstege warns of the risk that unsuspecting users may overdose and die due to the presence of these undetectable synthetic opioids.
