Manchester Study Ranks Fentanyl Highest Among Prescription Opioids for Respiratory Risk

GB News reported that a University of Manchester study identified fentanyl as the prescription opioid carrying the greatest risk of fatal overdose. Patients prescribed fentanyl faced three times the likelihood of dangerous breathing complications compared with those given morphine, and an 85 percent higher susceptibility to respiratory depression.

The research examined electronic health records from 32,909 adults treated at hospitals across north-west England.

Researchers tracked medication timing and subsequent changes in respiratory function, focusing on cases where breathing dropped to perilously low levels. Fentanyl is roughly 100 times stronger than morphine and has been linked to 8.6 million cases of misuse in the United States.

Oxycodone and morphine both showed elevated risks of breathing difficulties relative to codeine, which emerged as the safest option among the opioids studied.

Patients taking more than one opioid at the same time faced a 50 percent greater chance of respiratory complications than those using morphine alone. Dr Meghna Jani, senior clinical lecturer at the University of Manchester and the study's senior author, stated that opioids remain important for managing severe acute pain.

She added that the findings can help clinicians and patients make more informed decisions about medicines, combinations, and dose thresholds that require closer monitoring.