Every day more than 130 Americans die from opioid overdoses. The most common cause of death—contaminated drugs. These are people who were prescribed opioids and then fell into heroin addiction. The most cause of death—contaminated drugs. To maximize profits, drug dealers lace their supply with lethal contaminants like fentanyl, carfentanil, and benzodiazepines.
The Overdose Stopper is the first-ever syringe with a built-in detection system for dangerous contaminants, turning the very object that was delivering death by overdose into a life-saving device.
In partnership with the Washington Heights Corner Project, New York’s leading harm reduction organization, we developed a reagent patch that is applied inside syringes to detect contaminants. The patch changes color when it comes in contact with a dangerous adulterant. And depending on the contaminant, the reagent changes to a different color allowing the system to detect any cut in the drug.