Authorities say mixing xylazine with fentanyl has created a deadly cocktail.
The issue of drug overdose has become a persistent problem on the American streets of late. US federal government data shows that drug overdoses in the country claim one life every five minutes. Now the flesh-eating “zombie drug” is wreaking havoc on the streets of the US, literally making people’s bodies rot, and medical professionals seem to be struggling to effectively combat its effects.
“Zombie Drug”, as tranq is known in the US, is a drug used as a sedative in cows and horses. The land is overrun and people are acquiring it illegally. Dealers often mix it with other illegal drugs such as fentanyl and heroin.
Tranq poses a significant challenge to medical experts as it has eclipsed other drugs entering the country through illegal routes. This adds complexity to almost every facet of treatment and rehabilitation, making it extremely difficult for medical professionals to effectively address the problem.
“The clinical picture becomes much more diabolical, much harder to track, and a lot more can go wrong” when tranq is involved, Dr. Paolo Coppola, the board-certified cofounder of Victory Recovery Partners in Massapequa Park, told me. The New York Post in a recent interview.
Overdoses involving xylazine are much more difficult to treat, Dr. Coppola said, because the wonder drug Narcan, which reverses an opioid overdose, doesn’t act on the sedative.
“If an addict uses a speedball of cocaine and heroin, we can deal with it without a problem. You turn the heroin around so they start breathing again, and you wait for the cocaine to run out,” he said.
“Xylazine doesn’t work that way,” the doctor continued. “When they come to the ER, you fully expect them to wake up when you push the Narcan… but suddenly it doesn’t really work; they don’t wake up.”
Dr. Coppola explained that the existence of sedatives often prompts doctors to use replacement drugs as a means of stabilizing a patient’s falling blood pressure or rapidly falling heart rate.
“We think, ‘Wait a minute, he’s on suboxone and the dose is sufficient, so why is he still irritable and anxious? Why is his blood pressure high? Why is he having seizures?’ said Dr. Coppola, referring to the medication used to treat narcotic addiction.
“If they take xylazine along with their fentanyl long enough, they’re going to have withdrawal symptoms from the xylazine, which will screw us up.”
