Fentanyl citrateProduct ingredient for Fentanyl

Fentanyl, a potent opioid agonist, was developed in the 1950s to fill a need for strong and rapid analgesia.⁸ Because of these characteristics, fentanyl is commonly used to treat chronic cancer pain or in anesthesia.^{Label,15,16,17,18,19,20,21} Fentanyl is related to other opioids like morphine and oxycodone.

Fentanyl's high potency has also made it a common adulterant in illicit drugs, especially heroin.⁸ In 2017, 47600 overdose deaths in the United States involved some opioid (over 2/3 of all overdose deaths).²² Opioid overdoses kill an average of 11 Canadians daily.²³

Fentanyl was FDA approved in 1968.^{Label,15,16,17,18,19,20,21}