Overall, emergency room doctors in the US saw the number of overdoses on fentanyl grow from 28 in 1994, to 1,506 in 2002, according to the most recent numbers available from the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.
In many cases it is unknown whether death is due to abuse or misuse. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement records for the 115 deaths in 2004, were not clear about how people obtained the drug, whether by a prescription of their own or from one that had been stolen or otherwise not used according to doctor's instructions, the UF study said.
In addition to the placement of multiple patches on the body, the study found users devised techniques for the removal of the contents of the drug reservoir for oral, IV or smoked administration.
The Center also recorded 17 medical misuses of the drug and 38 suicide attempts using the fentanyl patch between 2002 to 2005.
Seven people were found dead in 2005 in the two Indiana countries of Johnson and Shelby due to the abuse or misuse of fentanyl.
Charles Owen McCormick IV, 18, died on May 27, 2005, in his room at his parents' home Greenwood, Indiana. He had 3 times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system, the Johnson County Sheriff's Department said.
Jacqueline Young, 44, died December 15, 2005, in bed at a Greenwood hotel where she was living. She was wearing two fentanyl pain patches and had 3 times the lethal dose in her body at the time of her death. Two heating pads were found in her bed, and heat is known to accelerate fentanyl to a fatal level.
In other Indiana deaths, Anna Layton, 48, and her son Christopher Layton, 28, were found dead on March 21, 2006. Police found Ms Layton dead when they arrived to tell her about her son's death. Both had eaten and injected fentanyl from patches, the coroner said. Toxicology reports showed Ms Layton had nearly 15 times the lethal dose of fentanyl in her system; and her son had nearly 3 times the lethal dose.
In 2005, Utah statistics from the latest mortality data available from the State Health Department show fentanyl was related to 29 accidental deaths, up from nine in 2004.
In December 2005, surviving family members of two Utah women filed lawsuits against Janssen Pharmaceutica and Alza Corporation, the manufacturer and distributor of the Duragesic skin patch, which the families say leaked and caused the deaths of both women.
Autopsy reports said Gina Danise, 42, and Victoria Price, 56, both died from drug poisoning after using drug pain patches.
A third lawsuit, by the Utah family of Marilyn Titus, 72, who died two years ago, was also filed in December 2005.
The Los Angeles County Coroners Office reports a growing number of accidental over-doses by patients misusing the patch, listing 127 deaths over the last six years, according to a CBC News report on December 20, 2005.
Fentanyl abuse is on the rise among medical professionals who handle the drug. A Florida study showed that while only 5.6% of physicians in Florida were anesthesiologists, nearly 25% of physicians followed for substance abuse/dependence were anesthesiologists. When sorted by drug of choice, anesthesiologists had more fentanyl abuse and dependence than other physicians.
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