The Danish Health Authority has issued a renewed warning about cyclorphin, a synthetic opioid many times more potent than morphine, after the substance was detected in Denmark through a drug seizure and an autopsy of a deceased person.
Cyclorphin requires only minute quantities to cause acute poisoning, the authority said. Treatment for overdose involves the antidote naloxone and respiratory support. Earlier this summer, a person in northern Sweden was found unconscious with cyclorphin in their system; an e-cigarette recovered from the individual was found to contain the drug.
The substance was added to Denmark's controlled substances list roughly a year ago, making its sale and possession illegal. The health authority said its latest advisory builds on an initial warning issued when cyclorphin was first detected in Germany.