Powerful animal sedative likely cause of overdose spike in Chicago
A potent animal tranquilizer is likely behind an increase in drug overdoses in Chicago this month, health officials warned on Monday.
The overdoses happened between May 11 and May 14, and drug samples from those cases tested positive for elevated levels of medetomidine. This powerful veterinary tranquilizer is not approved for human use.
Chicago health officials said medetomidine has not previously been detected in Chicago.
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning nationwide for xylazine, another animal sedative found in the recent samples. Like medetomidine, xylazine is not approved for humans and has no known antidote.
The CBS 2 Investigators learned it’s been showing up in autopsies in Cook County for years.
CBS 2 reviewed Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office data that showed xylazine-related deaths rising.
In 2022, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office recorded 158 opioid-related deaths, where xylazine was listed as the primary cause of death. That’s up from 110 cases in 2021 and 30 cases in 2020.
For users who survive, it can also cause human skin to rot.
John Dodge
Source: cbsnews.com