Talk:Duragesic

I don't think we have to write out the ®'s, since it's neither our trademark nor are we defending it. ✏ Sverdrup 16:16, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

Re: Suicide below.

If applied corectly, these patches are unlikley to cause sudden death. One could expect to vomit etc... in the same way as taking an overdose any other way, only, of course, the drug can not get out as it is abosrbed through the skin. Here in Australia, it is the Dur"O"gesic patches that are prescribed and oft abused by addicts. The fentanyl can be removed from the matrix patches by adding a couple of drops of lemon juice to 5 or 7 mils of water then placing this into a large spoon or ladel on an electric stove, heated and gently stired for a minute or so, then drawn up into a 10ml syringe, then injected. It is very important to dispose of any used patches carefully so that addicts don't get them and extract remaining fentanyl, for example, at 25ug/hr, 2.4mg of fentanyl will remain in the patch after 72 hrs, which is the prescribed amount of time a patch should be worn for. Another issue is, if your patch falls off and becomes attached to someone sharing your bed, this can be dangerouse as mentioned in the pdf file from the manufacturer's. There have been sevral accidental overdoses by addicts as fentanyl is said to be about 100 times as potent as morphine, therefore often under estimated as to what is will do even is seemingly small doses. Fentanyl is a very good drug for chronic severe pain, with a lot fewer side effects than high dose morphine, it will be tragic to those genuine, to have this product romved or more tightly regulated than it already is because of people doing foolish things with it.

Deaths from removing jelly from the patches and eating...

Should be discussed somewhere. A friend of mine died recently after cutting off a forth of the patch and sucking the fentanyl out. Oddly enough I myself have at a whole half and lived to tell but I now realise the error and stupidity in what i've done...--Donnie from the mean streets of Boston, KY 22:21, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Duragesic/Durogesic

Any searches for Durogesic redirect to the Duragesic page, but they are not the same product. Durogesic contains the Fentanyl in it's plastic matrix, while Duragesic contains the Fentanyl in a gel filled reservoir. Durogesic is solely available as gel-less patches and was made to prevent abuse, it is not the same as Duragesic and so should have it's own page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.59.104.73 (talk) 18:06, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

The article never actually specifies that Durogesic is the brand name of the matrix form. Should mention that somewhere.

Also, it should explain how this delivery system works and why it is supposed to prevent/reduce abuse. I for one am not clear on that point. Mia229 (talk) 15:44, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

"12µg/hr" dose patch actually provides 12.5µg/hr of the drug

In the first paragraph of the "Approval and usage" section, the information goes back and forth from 12µg and 12.5µg. Just to make sure people understand the reason why it would be said as the different way, can we add a note somewhere in the section stating something along the lines of "Although the commonly referred to dosage rates are 12/25/50/75/100µg/hr, the "12µg" patch actually releases 12.5µg/hr. It is exactly half of the 25µg/hr dose patch." My reference is the Official Duragesic® Full Prescribing Information

I'll add just what i put above, but if someone wants to reword it, or provide any more specific information regarding it, please do so. I'm sure my word/sentence structure coule use some improvment. It could be edited to seem more professional, as an encyclopedia would provide the information. Thanks, Issmortor (talk) 00:06, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Use for suicide

I'd be interested to see some discussion of the growing use of this product to bring about a relaxed and peaceful suicide. Absorbed trans-cutaneously, these products avoidthe main problem with oral overdoses which is of course excessive vomiting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.168.106.141 (talk) 12:27, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

dose equivalence

Is the patch dose considered equivalent to the same dose of IV fentanyl (other than that it lasts a lot longer), and if not, what is the equivalent dose? Mia229 (talk) 12:27, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Corrections to References

The following does not represent a comprehensive review of this webpage by FDA, but these are some edits or additions suggested to improve the accuracy, supplement with additional resources and bring up-to-date some of the existing information provided on this Wikipedia page.

• Reference 2 refers to and the link is intended to go to an FDA advisory from 2005, but this link is dead. We suggest adding this statement under the “Warnings” section, in front of the first sentence in the second paragraph: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued public health advisories related to fentanyl patch dangers. Among these,” (and then continue with the first sentence of the second paragraph, starting with ” in July 2005, the….). The link should go instead to this up-to-date FDA site on fentanyl patches which includes all the advisories that FDA has issued and will include future advisories. In addition, this link, <http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm114961.htm>, will make other safety and labeling information on fentanyl patches available to the reader.

• Reference 3 refers to and the link is intended to go to an FDA advisory from 2007, but this link is dead. We suggest the link go instead to this up-to-date FDA site on fentanyl patches which includes all the advisories that FDA has issued and will include future advisories. In addition, this link, <http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm114961.htm>, will make other safety and labeling information on fentanyl patches available to the reader.

Safeusefitz (talk) 14:56, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Addition of a Section to Address Storage and Disposal Safety Information

Because fentanyl patches, used and unused, carry significant risks for those who are not prescribed the drug (children, pets and others in the household who are not opioid-tolerant) we suggest a separate subheading to herald a warning about proper storage and disposal. There is not wide understanding that even used patches contain sufficient residual medicine to harm or kill. There have been 26 cases of accidental exposure to fentanyl since 1997, most of them involving children younger than 2 years old. Among these 26 cases, there were 10 deaths and 12 cases requiring hospitalization. The following three paragraphs are suggested for addition to the page:

Storage and Disposal

The fentanyl patch is one of a small number of drugs that may be especially harmful, and in some cases, fatal with just one dose, if used by someone other than the person for whom the drug was prescribed. Unused fentanyl patches should be kept in a secure location that is out of children’s sight and reach, such as a locked cabinet.(2)

When they cannot be disposed of through a drug take-back program, flushing is recommended for fentanyl patches because it is the fastest and surest way to remove them from the home so they cannot harm children and pets and others who were not intended to use them.(2,1)

Fentanyl patches should be flushed down the toilet as soon as they are removed from the body and unused fentanyl patches should be flushed as soon as they are no longer needed. Detailed “Instructions for Use” with complete information on how to apply, use and dispose of fentanyl patches are available on the FDA website.(3)

1. Medicines Recommended for Disposal by Flushing <http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm#MEDICINES>

2. Disposal of Unused Medicines: What You Should Know <http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/EnsuringSafeUseofMedicine/SafeDisposalofMedicines/ucm186187.htm>

3. Medication Guide and Instructions for Use – Duragesic (fentanyl) Transdermal System, <http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM088584.pdf>

Safeusefitz (talk) 14:56, 9 August 2013 (UTC)

Out of date content

"The remaining strengths are scheduled to resume distribution in late April." this reffers to April 2011, and should either be updated and put in to the perfect tense if anyone can find the required info or else removed. Prosthetic Head (talk) 15:07, 23 July 2014 (UTC)