Synthetic opioids may have caused hundreds more UK deaths than thought

"Deaths caused by a synthetic opioid that is hundreds of times stronger than heroin may have been underestimated by up to a third across the UK, according to research. Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that are extremely potent, and up to 500 times stronger than heroin. They were manufactured originally as a painkiller in the 1950s but their development was halted due to their extreme potencies resulting in a high risk of addiction."

"The study involved researchers testing samples from rats that had been anaesthetised with the drug, and finding that on average only 14% of the nitazene present at the time of overdose was still present when tested under real-world pathology and toxicology sample-handling conditions. After this, the academics applied modelling to data from the UK National Programme on Substance Use Mortality (NPSUM) to reveal that there was an excess of drug deaths in Birmingham in 2023 by a third."

Nitazenes are extremely potent synthetic opioids, reported to be up to 500 times stronger than heroin and originally developed as a painkiller in the 1950s before development was halted due to high addiction risk. Official figures show 333 UK fatalities linked to nitazenes in 2024, but evidence indicates that deaths may be underreported by up to a third because nitazenes degrade in postmortem samples. Controlled testing of anaesthetised rat blood showed only about 14% of nitazene remained under real-world pathology and toxicology sample-handling conditions. Modelling of national mortality data revealed an excess of drug deaths in Birmingham in 2023 consistent with non-detection. Undercounting of nitazene deaths undermines the accuracy of drug-related mortality statistics and could distort harm-reduction funding and policy decisions.

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