Scientists Find New Drug to Help Combat Fentanyl Overdoses

Potent killer drug resists treatment from naloxone.
Scientists Find New Drug to Help Combat Fentanyl Overdoses
Tablets of opioid painkiller Oxycodone delivered on medical prescription taken on Sept. 18, 2019. Eric Baradata/AFP via Getty Images
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Police officers, firefighters, and paramedics have been trained to save the lives of many overdose victims by administering naloxone, a drug that reverses the deadly effects of opioids such as heroin. But the recent flood of fentanyl into America—a synthetic opioid designed for severe and chronic pain relief that packs a punch 50 to 100 times greater than heroin—has stymied many life-saving efforts of first responders.

Researchers said Wednesday they have found a new compound, which they named compound 368, that can work with naloxone to enhance its life-saving power and overcome its limitations, according to a Stanford study published in Nature.
Huey Freeman
Huey Freeman
Author
A newspaper reporter, editor, and author, Huey Freeman recently wrote “Who Shot Nick Ivie?” a true crime book on the murder of a border patrol agent. He lives in Central Illinois with his wife Kate.