The Food and Drug Administration is currently investigating whether the deaths were related to inappropriate use of the painkiller or the quality of the product.
Some may have been the result of accidental overdoses and reports now suggest patients or prescribers were not aware of safety information on the drug's label, which prompted Friday's public health advisory.
Among the warnings in patient information sheets issued Friday:
Fentanyl patches can cause trouble breathing, which can be fatal. Get emergency help if you have trouble breathing or extreme drowsiness with slowed breathing; feel faint, dizzy, confused; or have other unusual symptoms. They can be signs that you were prescribed too high a dose or took too much.Fentanyl patches are only for round-the-clock pain that is moderate to severe and expected to last for weeks.The patches should not be your first narcotic painkiller; they're only for people whose bodies are used to morphine or related painkillers known as opioids.Do not use fentanyl patches if you have sudden or severe asthma, or a gastrointestinal problem called paralytic ileus.Store patches out of reach of children and dispose of them by sticking the adhesive sides together and flushing down the toilet, not in trash cans where children can find them.While abuse of the patches is a recurring problem, FDA doctor, Robert Meyer, said the latest concern stems from legitimate patient use.
In letters to doctors, the FDA advised to prescribe the lowest possible dose, citing directions must be followed exactly to prevent death or other serious side effects.
