SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A new drug often combined with fentanyl that can cause severe skin wounds has surfaced in the Bay Area.
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Bay Area health officials have confirmed the first death from the animal tranquilizer xylazine, also known as "tranq." The drug is not intended or licensed for human use.
"It causes these terrible local skin infections at the site of injection which are leading people to lose their limbs," said Stanford Psychology Professor Dr. Anna Lembke.
In some areas of the U.S., xylazine is known as the "flesh eating drug." "What's happened is it's causing flesh to die in the area around the injection," Lembke explained.
On its own, Narcan — the life-saving antidote used in opioid-related overdoses — is ineffective against tranq. However, oftentimes tranq is mixed with fentanyl, so health experts still recommend administering the opioid reversal agent.
"People can die from fentanyl, it's a very lethal opioid, so by using Narcan what we do is we push the fentanyl out of the opioid receptor and therefore we can save people from overdose," the Stanford professor told KCBS Radio.
At the social level, Lembke said what's needed to stop the spread of this new drug is intervention, helping addicts get into treatment away from the source.
As of March 23, the California Department of Public Health said tranq is not yet common in the state's illicit drug supply. But, experts are concerned that the drug may become prevalent, increasing fatal overdoses and serious skin infections.
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