Fentanyl Death Pose: Would a post mortem show an overdose?

Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent.

Fentanyl is a prescription drug that is also made and used illegally and just like morphine, it is a medicine that is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, especially after surgery.

Fentanyl is also sometimes used to treat patients with chronic pain who are physically tolerant to other opioids.4 Tolerance occurs when you need a higher and/or more frequent amount of a drug to get the desired effects.

In its prescription form, fentanyl is known by such names as Actiq®, Duragesic®, and Sublimaze®.4,5.

Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, are now the most common drugs involved in drug overdose deaths in the United States.

Would a post mortem show an overdose?

A post mortem will shown an overdose. A typical example was a study conducted by researchers on a 23-year-old male who was found dead in his bedroom with 67 non-prescribed patches of fentanyl on his body.

In the room, there also were fentanyl tablets of 100 µg and cocaine powder, which had possibly also been taken by the deceased.

To confirm the cause of death, urine and subclavian blood were retrieved to perform a standard postmortem toxicology screening.

In the conclusion, researchers confirmed cause of death to be fentanyl overdose with an extensive toxicological screening in combination with the circumstantial evidence.