New drugs could eventually make NARCAN obsolete

It’s being described as slightly more potent than carfentanil, which can 5,000 more potent than heroin.

It’s called tetrahydrofuran fentanyl. Tetrahydrofuran is used to calibrate machines. The drug, new to the streets, has killed a man now in Milwaukee.

To combat overdoses, law enforcement and first responders must often administer NARCAN to reverse the effects. It, however, may soon become obsolete.

“We’ve already increased our typical NARCAN dose 10 times over the last five years,” ER doctor Chris Eberlein, at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, said. “If we keep having dosing problems like we’re going to have, we’re going to have some sort of super NARCAN developed.”

Eberlein says the drug is more than likely being sold as heroin or fentanyl but it’s much more dangerous.
The drug is often being sold as something else.

“Depending on the distribution pattern that they’re dealing with and how far up the chain they are, you don’t know what you’re getting from these dealers,” Eberlein said. “And, I’m not sure they always know what they have.”