Read Time:22 Second
Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller developed nearly 60 years ago, is at the center of the deadliest drug epidemic in American history. More than 71,000 people died of synthetic-opioid overdoses in 2021 — more than the number of U.S. military personnel killed during the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. And recent figures indicate that fentanyl is outpacing heroin as a leading cause of overdose deaths in some parts of the country.