Synthetic opioids may have caused hundreds more UK deaths than thought | Opioids
Deaths caused by a synthetic opioid hundreds of times more powerful than heroin may have been underestimated by a third across the UK, research has found.
Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that are extremely potent, up to 500 times more potent than heroin. They were originally produced as painkillers in the 1950s, but their development was discontinued due to their excessive potency resulting in a high risk of addiction.
In 2024, the National Crime Agency (NCA) reported that 333 deaths across the UK were drug-related. But researchers at King’s College London say the actual number of deaths may be underreported due to concerns that drug samples could be missed in post-mortem toxicology tests.
The study involved researchers testing samples from mice anesthetized with the drug and found that, on average, only 14% of the nitase present at the time of the overdose was still present when tested under real-world pathology and toxicology sample handling conditions.
Academics then applied modeling to data from the UK’s National Program for Substance Use Mortality (NPSUM) to find that drug-related deaths in Birmingham were a third higher in 2023. The researchers concluded that one explanation for the discrepancy may lie in the failure to detect nitazenine by toxicologists in these cases.
Senior lecturer in pharmacology and toxicology at King’s and lead author of the study, Dr. “This has serious implications for the accuracy of drug-related death data used to inform the design and funding of harm reduction strategies, as a significant proportion of deaths are likely to be missed,” said Caroline Copeland.
He added: “If niacins are degrading in postmortem blood samples then we are almost certainly undercounting the true number of deaths they cause. This means we are trying to tackle a crisis using incomplete data. When we do not measure a problem correctly, we do not design the right interventions, and the inevitable result is that preventable deaths continue.”
“Behind this undercount are people dying suddenly from extremely powerful opioids, families left unanswered, and communities facing a growing but largely hidden cost.”
Synthetic opioids have become an increasing public health problem in recent years. Health experts in Scotland have warned that the country is facing a new drug death crisis due to highly powerful synthetic opioids already linked to more than 100 deaths.
Mike Trace, chief executive of the Forward Trust and co-creator of the UK’s first national drugs strategy, said: “The extreme potency of drugs has clearly contributed to rising overdose and death rates among people who use drugs. This research shows that official figures are likely to be underestimates and supports our call for the government to be bolder in rolling out drug testing and overdose prevention measures to save lives.”
“Given that more than 17,000 people across the UK die from drug or alcohol-related causes each year, we cannot afford to waver in providing life-saving healthcare to people who use illicit drugs.
A government spokesman said: “Every death caused by drug misuse is a tragedy. This government is committed to reducing drug-related deaths and supporting recovery for more people to live healthier, longer lives.”
“We remain highly alert to emerging drug threats, working closely with health services and police partners to stay ahead of criminals targeting our communities. Border Force also became the first agency in the world to use specially trained dogs to detect both deadly fentanyl and nitazenes.”
