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U.S. health officials say improper use of patches that emit the painkiller fentanyl is still killing people.

Today's warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the second concerning the powerful narcotic in two years.

The FDA blames some of the deaths on the patches being improperly prescribed to certain patients. Fentanyl should be used to control chronic pain in people already used to narcotics, such as some cancer patients. Yet the FDA has found cases where doctors prescribed it for headaches or post-surgical pain.

Authorities said patients also are accidentally overdosing by putting on more of the patches than prescribed, replacing them too frequently or getting them too hot.

The earlier warning in 2005 noted 120 deaths among users. The FDA did not say how many more deaths it has learned of since then.

In 2005, Health Canada issued a warning about the pain patch Duragesic, which contains fentanyl. It recommended the patch be used only in adults for the "management of persistent, moderate to severe chronic pain that cannot be managed by lesser means."

It recommended the patch not be used for short-term, intermittent or post-operative pain, or in patients who are not already using some form of strong opioid pain medication.

December 21, 2007