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(Surgical Times) — Plastic surgeons were alerted Thursday to an escalating national crisis that could place their patients at risk of death.
Fake pain medications are easier to obtain than ever, and a growing number of them are lethal.
These pills, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has warned, are illegally manufactured to look almost exactly like legitimate opioids—such as those prescribed for pain management after surgery—yet they may contain no actual medication, and very often contain a potentially deadly amount of fentanyl or methamphetamine.
For every 10 fake pills that contain fentanyl, six of them contain a potentially deadly dose of it, according to DEA Laboratory testing.
