© 2024 WMRA and WEMC
WMRA : More News, Less Noise WEMC: The Valley's Home for Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fentanyl Overdoses Worry Pennsylvania Officials

So far this year, 50 people have died in Pennsylvania from fentanyl-related overdoses.

Fentanyl is a prescription drug — an opiate more powerful than morphine.

It is often used to treat cancer patients experiencing extreme pain. An illicit, non-prescription version of fentanyl led to hundreds of deaths in Pennsylvania in 2006.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Elana Gordon of WHYY reports that state health and drug enforcement officials are worried it’s on the rise again.

Reporter

  • Elana Gordon, health and science reporter for WHYY. She tweets@Elana_Gordon.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.