Government officials are warning that the narcotic fentanyl pain patch may spur a drug overdose and is probing whether a number of such overdoses and 120 deaths have been caused by the patch. J&J's Janssen markets the patch and Mylan recently introduced a generic patch. The patch is designed to be used by people who are able to tolerate narcotics and are in need of round-the-clock pain management that can't be provided by other narcotic drugs. FDA officials emphasized that the safety investigation is ongoing and that there was no conclusive link between the deaths and overdoses and the patch. The fentanyl patch has been on the market for 15 years.
- read this New York Times piece for more