A synthetic drug considered 100 times more potent than fentanyl was determined to have caused the death of a Riverside man, marking the latest in an increase in overdoses involving the synthetic drug, public health officials said.
Carfentanil is a schedule II synthetic drug with a similar chemical as fentanyl and is used in Wildnil, an anesthetic for elephants, according to the National Library of Medicine. A Riverside man in his forties fatally overdosed on the substance in March but the cause was not officially determined until this month, the Riverside University Health System said in a news release.
Illegally manufactured fentanyl drugs such as carfentanil entered illicit markets in the northeast U.S. as a substitute for white-powder heroin in 2013, the CDC said in a report. Carfentanil, which is 10,000 times more potent than morphine, can be lethal at a fraction of the two milligram range for fentanyl, health officials said.
“Every life lost from opioids is one too many,” Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Chevinsky said in the release.
Cases of carfentanil overdoses are rare, but on the rise, the release said. U.S. deaths involving carfentanil increased from 29 in the first half of 2023 to 238 during the same period last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Carfentanil is defined as a unique illegally manufactured fentanyl, an opioid produced without the regulations of pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl. That means it can go undetected by some fentanyl test strips, which can lead to an increase in accidental overdoses, health officials added. While overall opioid overdoses have decreased both nationally and in Riverside County, according to the release, the CDC said that the reemergence of carfentanil “may threaten this progress.”
“Together, we can continue to raise awareness about the risks associated with drug use and work as a community to support safety, reduce harm and care for one another,” Chevinsky said.
The Riverside University Health System recommended that individuals carry naloxone to treat someone overdosing on fentanyl and avoid using carfentanil even in small doses due to the unpredictability and potency of the substance.
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