PainRelief.com Interview with:
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Dr. Durbhakula[/caption]
Shravani Durbhakula, MD, MPH, MBA
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology,
Division of Pain Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Medical Director, Comprehensive Pain Service
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our study highlights the rapid rise of nitazenes—extremely potent and dangerous synthetic opioids—silently driving the current overdose crisis. Developed in the 1950s by a pharmaceutical company and never approved for clinical use, nitazenes are up to 20 times more potent than fentanyl and are undetectable with standard drug tests available in emergency rooms.
These opioids are often mixed into counterfeit pills or other street drugs, posing an unseen threat. Furthermore, nitazenes interact with opioid receptors in a unique way, increasing overdose risk, heightening respiratory depression, and accelerating tolerance development, which makes them even more dangerous for users.
Dr. Durbhakula[/caption]
Shravani Durbhakula, MD, MPH, MBA
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology,
Division of Pain Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Medical Director, Comprehensive Pain Service
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
PainRelief.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our study highlights the rapid rise of nitazenes—extremely potent and dangerous synthetic opioids—silently driving the current overdose crisis. Developed in the 1950s by a pharmaceutical company and never approved for clinical use, nitazenes are up to 20 times more potent than fentanyl and are undetectable with standard drug tests available in emergency rooms.
These opioids are often mixed into counterfeit pills or other street drugs, posing an unseen threat. Furthermore, nitazenes interact with opioid receptors in a unique way, increasing overdose risk, heightening respiratory depression, and accelerating tolerance development, which makes them even more dangerous for users.
Dr. D'Orsogna[/caption]
Maria-Rita D'Orsogna Ph.D.
Professor, Mathematics
California State University, Northridge
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Computational Medicine at UCLA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Drug overdose deaths have been increasing in the USA for the past two decades. A ‘third wave’ of overdose fatalities started in 2013, with a shift from prescription opioids towards synthetic ones, in particular illicit fentanyl.
To examine trends in drug overdose deaths by gender, race and geography in the United States during the period 2013-2020, we used an epidemiological database provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, extracting rates by race and gender in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. We considered the impact of four main drug categories psychostimulants with addiction potential such as methamphetamines; heroin; prescription opioids and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and its derivatives.
Yingxi (Cimo) Chen, MD, MPH, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Radiation Epidemiology Branch, DCEG, NCI, NIH
Rockville MD 20850
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Death rates from drug overdose have more than doubled in the US in the 21st century. Similar increases in drug overdose deaths have been reported in other high-income countries but few studies have compared rates across countries. 
