Animal sedative adds new suffering to opioid drug crisis, but is it driving up deaths?

By MATTHEW PERRONE
AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis. It’s called xylazine (pronounced ZY’-lah-zeen). It’s not intended for human use and can cause severe skin wounds in people who inject it. But whether it is leading to more deaths — as suggested by officials in Washington — is not yet clear. In fact, some early data suggests the drug may inadvertently be diluting the effects of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid behind most overdose deaths. But there is broad agreement that information is needed to understand xylazine’s impact and craft ways of disrupting illegal supplies.