Americas growing killer-heroin epidemic isnt about heroin at all. Its about a powerful prescription that broke bad. And for Big Pharma, the cure is as profitable as the disease.
Its 50 times stronger than heroin. So potent, three grains are lethal to an adult. First synthesized in the 1960s, its been used to treat severe pain in cancer patients.
Today, fentanyl has two main sources: the prescription drug industry, and Mexican drug cartels. And its the quiet culprit behind the current heroin crisis, one of the deadliest drug epidemics in American history.
In the documentary above, Death by Fentanyl, Fusions The Naked Truth investigates the rise of fentanyl in all its forms and its sometimes deadly consequences.
In the stories below, learn how fentanyl first hit the streets, Breaking Bad-style; how the drug has transformed life in one major U.S. city; and how some of its legal manufacturers also profit from drugs to reverse its deadly effects.