3 ms·
> Fentanyl is used thousands of times per day in the medical setting because it is a safe drug. Fentanyl is not a safe drug. Period. It is a powerful and dang
by thomasfedb 8y ago
> Fentanyl is used thousands of times per day in the medical setting because it is a safe drug.
Fentanyl is not a safe drug. Period. It is a powerful and dangerous drug with dangerous and potentially lethal side effects and classified as such. It's also and incredibly useful drug, potentially of great benefit to people in severe pain - benefit that must be balanced against the danger and risk.
In controlled settings (e.g. in a hospital bed with physiological monitoring) many dangerous drugs can be used in a safe way, Fentanyl included. But that doesn't make Fentanyl a safe drug, just a drug that can be used safely.
In the same way TNT and rockets can both be used safely - neither are sensibly intrinsically safe.
> If someone overdosed and you breath for them (CPR or ventilator), you can just wait for the effects to wear off and they’ll be none the worse for wear.
I think this is too complacent. Aspiration is a real risk, they could choke, pneumonia can be life threatening. If somebody has overdosed, get professional medical care - management of the compromised airway is no DIY project.
- Declanomous 8y agoNot to mention that if someone had several hours of CPR done to them they are almost certainly going to need to go to the hospital anyways. Not to mention the average person can only sustain effective CPR for a few minutes.
- code_duck 8y agoI think the point was it’s not any more dangerous than heroin and morphine, and can be safe when properly administered in a medical setting.
- thomasfedb 8y agoI can't help but feel that writing "because it is a safe drug" implies that the supposed safeness has something to do with the properties of fentanyl, rather than the manner in which it is used.
- code_duck 8y agoIt’s implied for an drug that safety means specific uses within strict guidelines. Only specific dosages and usages are approved. If using the drug couldn’t go wrong it would be called harmless. Like every commercial says, ‘Use as directed’.
- Novashi 8y agoI have no idea why we're talking about it in a medical setting when this is clearly meant to show how dangerous it is in the hands of the public. Fentanyl is dangerous on the streets and safer in the hospital sheets, of course, but that basically has no bearing on how it's used by addicts and cartels.
- thomasfedb 8y agoHave you ever seen a HN thread that stayed strictly on topic?