Suspected Counterfeit M-30 Oxycodone Pill Exposures and Acute Withdrawals Reported from a Single Hospital - Toxicology Investigators Consortium Core Registry, U.S. Census Bureau Western Region, 2017-2022

• Published in: MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2024-07, Vol.73 (29), p.642-647
• Main Authors: Glidden, Emily, Gladden, R Matthew, Dion, Chris, Spyres, Meghan B, Seth, Puja, Aldy, Kim, Mustaquim, Desiree
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Amphetamines; Analysis; Benzodiazepines; Censuses; Central nervous system depressants; Child; Cocaine; Consortia; Counterfeit; Counterfeit Drugs; Counterfeiting; Drug counterfeiting; Drug dealing; Drug Overdose; Drug traffic; Drug trafficking; Drug withdrawal; Drugs; Evidence-based medicine; Exposure; Female; Fentanyl; Full Report; Harm reduction; Hospital patients; Hospitals; Humans; Intensive care; Male; Medical laboratories; Methamphetamine; Middle Aged; Narcotics; Overdose; Oxycodone; Oxycodone - poisoning; Patients; Pharmacists; Prescription drugs; Public health; Registries; Substance abuse; Substance use; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Toxicity; Toxicology; United States; Young Adult; Young adults
• ISSN: 0149-2195; 1545-861X; 1545-861X
• DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7329a2

Availability of counterfeit prescription pills (counterfeit pills) containing illegally made fentanyl, including counterfeit M-30 oxycodone (counterfeit M-30) pills, has risen sharply in the United States and has been increasingly linked to overdose deaths. In 2023, approximately 115 million counterfeit pills were seized in U.S. High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. However, clinical data on counterfeit pill-related overdoses are limited. Medical toxicology consultations during 2017-2022 from one U.S. Census Bureau Western Region hospital participating in the Toxicology Investigators Consortium Core Registry were analyzed. A total of 352 cases suspected to involve counterfeit M-30 pills, including 143 (40.6%) cases of fentanyl exposure and 209 (59.4%) cases of acute withdrawal were identified; consultations increased from three in 2017, to 209 in 2022. Patients aged 15-34 years accounted for 95 (67.4%) exposure cases. Among all patients with exposures, 81.1% were hospitalized, 69.0% of whom were admitted to an intensive care unit. Additional substances were detected in 131 (91.6%) exposures. Providing outreach to younger persons misusing prescription pills, improving access to and distribution of harm reduction tools including fentanyl test strips and naloxone, and promoting linkage of persons treated for overdose in hospitals to harm reduction and substance use treatment services are strategies to reduce morbidity associated with use of counterfeit M-30.