If fentanyl is so dangerous, why is it used in hospitals?

[Anonymous]

There are so many other meds that can relieve pain and aren’t as dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Good question.

If knives are so dangerous, why do they use THEM in hospitals??

[Anonymous]

It was designed to keep cancer patients comfortable and pain free at the end of life. Used appropriately it can still perform that function.

[Anonymous]

This is like asking if grenades are so dangerous, why do they use them in war?

Trained professionals using monitoring equipment to give a drug is VERY different than street dealers selling unregulated pills to whoever is in front of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is like asking if grenades are so dangerous, why do they use them in war?

Trained professionals using monitoring equipment to give a drug is VERY different than street dealers selling unregulated pills to whoever is in front of them.

bad example.

grenades are supposed to kill. fentanyl used correctly does not.

[Anonymous]

Are you familiar with morphine? Same concept.

[Anonymous]

Because a lethal dose of anything is dangerous? Fentanyl is used in the hospital by trained professionals who dose it correctly and know what interactions or reactions to look for. Fentanyl on the street is a free for all.

[Anonymous]

Fentanyl is a street drug because it can be made easily by drug cartels and transported easily because it's so potent. It's not coming from hospital supplies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good question.

If knives are so dangerous, why do they use THEM in hospitals??

100 percent. Like the oddest question ever.

[Anonymous]

Because fentanyl on the street has no oversight. No one knows the strength, the purity, the nonlethal dosing, the interactions with other drugs being taken.

Wildly different scenarios.

[Anonymous]

Since we give it IV, fentanyl provides rapid pain relief. We also give patients IV morphine or dilaudid sometimes. Giving any pain medication IV is not super common on my unit. ICU patients get IV pain medication much more frequently.

[Anonymous]

Because used in the correct doseage and used in the right conditions, it is medically helpful.

Used on the street, self-administered by people who don't know about proper dosages, usage and frequency, it is dangerous and addictive.

Having a medical or pharmaceutical background and knowing how to use it makes all the difference in the world.

[Anonymous]

Does Ziggy from 3rd Avenue administer the fentanyl in hospitals?

[Anonymous]

Fentanyl has been, and continues to be l, a really medically important analgesic to people with severe pain eg. Those with cancer, and many who need end of life care analgesia.

The fact that people are putting it in street drugs does not negate this.

Your stance doesn’t change what criminals are doing with it. People need it for pain control. Some people abusing it doesn’t change that.

[Anonymous]

When used as a pain killer for cancer pain, that is where most of it goes - to solve that problem. When used without the underlying pain, it goes elsewhere and causes issues, like with ANY other medication.