How Fentanyl Became Leading Cause Of Death For Many Americans

Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller developed nearly 60 years ago, is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, according to a Washington Post analysis. Dr. Joseph Lee of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation joins Morning Joe to discuss.


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How Fentanyl Became Leading Cause Of Death For Many Americans

[howconnie]

I refused opiates a decade ago so the hospital said I was faking my health condition and refused to treat me unless I took pain pills. I have suffered poor health for so long for repeatedly refusing opium at the hospital. Nobody talks about the living sick that preferred poor health to addiction and how we suffer.

[winstonsmith]

WHO CARES ABOUT FENTANYL?!? WHAT ABOUT JAN 6????

[lastChang]

The US 🇺🇲 must do something about Chinese export of illigal fentanyl to the U.S that is responsible for hundreds of thousand fatalities/deaths in the US per year.

[nitaponds]

You people are blaming this on the people crossing the border but nobody forcing people in America to do drugs that's a personal choice. I don't do drugs and I don't even drink alcohol America got a drug habit and she needs to go to drug rehab. Right or wrong drug cartals supply a market take away the market drug cartals can't sell drugs across the border it that simple.

[katiedid]

Mrs Reagan said '...just say no...'
There is little or no $$$ for treatment/rehab. Gov't slams down on opiate prescriptions so fentanyl explodes and pain patients cannot get prescrip for chronic pain.

[SecretEyeSpot]

Its easy to fix this problem. *Making testing kits legal and widely avaliable* so people can test what they're using. Fear does not work, prohibitions do not work, but knowledge of what one is taking does!!

[anitareasontobelieve]

Damnation we are being hunted ... Nobody deserves to die like that. Addiction is a disease, the sick people do not deserve that.

[phanticee]

I had a minor surgery and the doctors were telling me they were giving me an antibiotic and fentinyl for pain. I said, "no fentinyl. " They looked confused and asked, " you don't want any fentinyl? " I said no. The one doctor looked more puzzled and said, "you don't want anything for pain?" I said very slowly, "I do not want any man made heron or any other heron in my body. You got ibuprofen? "

I ended up getting nothing at all for pain the two days I was still in there for observation.

I don't understand why the go to for doctors are the drugs that either turn people into addicts, or food for flowers. It doesn't make sense.

[bartwilson]

Fentanyl is an amazing drug that is hugely benficial for pain relief and anesthesia. Fentanyl has made conscious sedation safer. It does have incredibly important medical uses. The illegal use of fentanyl to cut drugs is a horrible epidemic that needs to be dealt with as this show discusses, but if your surgeon/colonoscopist mentions they are using fentanyl for your sedation, don't be alarmed. It's safer than the drugs they used to use for anesthesia (when used in appropriate weight-dependent dosing)

[ronkirk]

You want to reduce drug use and OD's? Reduce despair in our society. Drug use is the 'disease of despair'. When people don't have a chance to survive in our economy because an overwhelming amount of the wealth our economy produces goes to the 1% obscenely rich and corporations, many people give up hope and despair. Inequality is literally killing our country and its'citizens.

[JMProductsStoreLLC]

So true and sad. My husband died from it as well last year.

[shinebrightlikeadiamond]

This ties in great with the previous border story. Most fentanyl rolls right across the border daily.

[JMProductsStoreLLC]

So true and sad. My husband died from it as well.

[Toekneepowers]

Elon and the Twitter files are crushing your world right now.😁

[rachelkristine]

For crying out loud, people, stop being so GD stupid & selfish & STOP DOING DRUGS! In fact, don't even start to begin with! If people insist on doing this bs, they deserve the consequences. 🤷‍♀️

[smartist_witin_kintucky]

*as a proud christian my priorities are guns, trump, god, beer, Nascar®, barbieq and freedom in that order. And we will support anyone who understands this like trump*
a men

[yootoober]

If one of my neighbors wants to buy fentanyl, can i, do i have the right, to stop him? Is it my responsibility to stop him?

[Rockhoundingcolorado]

unregulated drug company's, this what you get, remember the oxcontain >problem company's?

[icebergrose]

Maybe the Sackler family could pay for addiction care. They've got lots of money.

[Dot-Dot-Dash]

Very sad. When I was a Hospice Nurse, years ago, the Fentanyl patches had too many unpleasant side effects to be used very often.