CHICAGO — The nationwide opioid epidemic took a sharp toll on Chicagoans in 2015, Cook County medical examiners announced Monday.
Medical examiners linked the drug fentanyl, which they say is "up to 100 times more potent than morphine," to 102 deaths in 2015, up from 20 deaths in 2014.
"Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues pose a great public health because people may not know they're using a very powerful drug," said toxicologist Peter Koin, according to a news release. "In addition, we're seeing new versions of fentanyl and testing for these substances is challenging because we've never seen them before. It's something brand new."
Doctors said fentanyl poses an even greater risk of overdose than heroin, adding that patients overdosing on fentanyl often need up to four doses of naloxone, the heroin overdose antidote, just to survive.
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