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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Xylazine is causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling long-standing methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses. Said Corder: “The fact that xylazine is mixed in with illegally manufactured fentanyl or is why you get such a severe withdrawal.” A nurse treats Nick Gallagher’s skin wounds at the Savage Sisters’ community outreach storefront in Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. There is not much research on what the drug does to people, but addiction and withdrawal from xylazine seems similar to that for another sedative used on humans in intensive care units called etomidate. Xylazine is a sedative used by veterinarians to sedate large animals that need surgery. It has never been approved for human use. “They Narcan’ed me four different times but it didn’t work against xylazine,” she said. And she said Narcan, the drug used to reverse overdoses, seemed ineffective against xylazine, which is not an opioid. She also said that in addition to leaving wounds, xylazine threw her into repeat seizures. Brooke, who asked NBC News to withhold her last name, said she is now using xylazine test strips to test for the presence of xylazine in her drug supply. Laura Weigel, who runs a treatment center for the local YWCA, said one patient recently had her breast and part of her shoulder amputated because of xylazine. “We are not being able to do anything fast enough to get ahead of it,” she said.Ī homeless fentanyl user in Wheeling named Brooke has her wounds dressed twice a day with help from a nurse at Catholic Charities. The wounds develop from skin ulcers that can appear at the point of injection or elsewhere on the body. The drug is known for leaving deep flesh wounds that can sometimes lead to amputations. Obtained by NBC Newsīut West Virginia, which remains ground zero in the American opioid crisis, with nearly twice as many overdose deaths per capita as its nearest competitor, seems to be taking a disproportionate hit from x ylazine as well. It now shows up in at least half of the needles in Wheeling, and between 15% and 20% of the needles used statewide, according to 2023 data from West Virginia University. Xylazine offered by an overseas supplier. Xylazine is now present in one out of every nine overdose deaths nationwide involving illicit fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ![]()
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