Pain Patches Could Kill You

Those ingenious pain-killing patches that have been marketed to people who suffer from chronic pain are apparently much more dangerous than we all thought. Several newspapers have reported that the government is investigating 120 deaths among users of patches that emit the painkiller fentanyl and warning patients to be sure to use the powerful narcotic properly to avoid accidental overdose. The F.D.A has described fentanyl as a "very strong narcotic," and issued a public health advisory stating that some patients and doctors might not be fully aware of its dangers.  Too much fentanyl can cause a person to stop breathing. SFGate advises readers to get emergency help if they are using a patch and have trouble breathing or extreme drowsiness with slowed breathing; feel faint, dizzy, confused; or have other unusual symptoms and to avoid using fentanyl patches if they have sudden or severe asthma, or a gastrointestinal problem called paralytic ileus. Read more.

taking off the patch will not reverse the effects because the drug has already built up in the person’s system and may continue to be absorbed from the skin for 17 hours or more.