Fainting from fentanyl exposure? Nope

This is a dangerous drug and should be dealt with that way. But over the years an entire mythology has grown up around the drug because of these dangers, and this has had some rather odd consequences. Too many people now believe that they can be immediately killed by a fentanyl overdose from any sort of skin contact with the drug, and that’s just not true. It’s potent and toxic for sure, but you have to be dosed with it for that to happen.

This has come to more attention since the CDC recently removed a video from the NIOSH site that it says “mischaracterizes” the dangers of fentanyl exposure for police and first responders. There are many such videos of police officers quickly showing overt symptoms or even collapsing after exposure to minute quantities of fentanyl – or even just possible fentanyl – and these are just not pharmacologically possible. Fentanyl is not absorbed through the skin like this. Yes, there are indeed fentanyl skin patches for hospital pain relief, but these are formulated with other agents to make the skin more permeable under the patch (as are all such skin-patch dosage forms). Think about it: you do not see opioid addicts rubbing small bits of fentanyl on the backs of their hands for a quick hit. But this hysteria – which is what to call it – has spread to the point that random people are fainting when they think they’ve been exposed by (for example) picking up money off the floor.