COLUMBUS – The Franklin County Coroner says a powerful new drug has been linked to three fatal overdoses this year and warns that the anti-overdose drug naloxone will not help.
Dr. Anahi Ortiz says she notified the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area that her office discovered the presence of xylazine in three overdose fatalities during 2019 and says the Ohio State Highway Patrol Lab is also seeing the drug in their testing.
Xylazine is a veterinary sedative, used as a sedative, anesthetic, muscle relaxation or pain reliever for animals such as horses and cattle, which has been used as a cutting agent for both heroin and cocaine on the east coast and in Puerto Rico, Ortiz said.
Xylazine is not an opiate, but Ortiz says it has been combined with opiates. However, Ortiz says naloxone – or Narcan – is not effective against a xylazine overdose.
We are seeing a new drug in Franklin County: xylazine, an animal anesthetic. There have been so far three overdose deaths with xylazine as one of the agents involved. The drug is not controlled and according to the head of OSU Veternary [sic] College it is carried by most vets in their bags. – Dr. Anahi Ortiz, Franklin Co Coroner, via Facebook
Michigan HIDTA has also reported that Xylazine was encountered in western Michigan in January, as well as the Upper Peninsula and suburban Detroit last month, Ortiz said.
The drug is not controlled and Ortiz says the head of OSU Veterinary College reports it is carried by most vets in their bags.
Ortiz says people should still use Narcan when confronted with an overdose but says it becomes extremely important to also call 911 for full resuscitation and transport to an emergency room.