3 police officers were rushed to hospital after suspected fentanyl exposure. Experts say anxiety attacks could be to blame as secondhand overdoses are an urban myth.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office in Florida said that three of their officers had to go to the hospital because of possible exposure to the drugfentanil.

The sheriff's office said that after coming across the drug while searching a vehicle, the deputy became dizzy, and rushed to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

—Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) March 29, 2022

Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin.

In recent years, there have been stories about police officers getting sick after coming into contact with the drug.

With large numbers of overdoses linked to the drug, experts have cast doubt on whether it is possible to overdose from secondhand contact.

Ryan Marino, an expert of toxicology and addiction medicine at University Hospitals in Cleveland, told The New York Times that the only way to overdose is from injecting, snorting or some other way of ingestion.

Insider reported that some experts believe that the frightening symptoms experienced by police officers after alleged exposure to Fentanyl could be panic attacks.

The director of the medical toxicology division at Rutgers Medical School wrote in an op-ed thatPassive exposure to fentanyl does not result in clinical toxicity.

Nelson wrote that they aren't consistent with the signs and symptoms of opiate poisoning.

Police forces and news outlets have been accused of contributing to a misinformation problem by publicizing unconfirmed reports about officers collapsing or dying from overdoses.

The theory that police officers could be in a panic attack was explained by The Politics of Everything.

Patrick Blanchfield, an associate faculty member at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, compared hysteria from the 19th century to the early 20th century.

Blanchfield said that police officers might be experiencing a conversion disorder.

He said that he didn't think the officers were exaggerating or collapsing on purpose and that the symptoms would feel authentic to them.

Misconceptions about the effects of Fentanyl could be harmful if they cause people to delay or avoid helping others who are overdosed out of fear.