As ‘tranq’ overdoses rise across the US, Blue Ridge Poison Center addresses its dangers

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Experts at UVA Health are concerned about the emerging threat of people using a drug normally meant for animals, and it possibly being combined with fentanyl.

“It’s a challenging time for us in healthcare right now,” Blue Ridge Poison Center Director Doctor Christopher Holstege said.

Xylazine, also known as “tranq,” is presenting a list of issues for doctors and dangers for people across central Virginia.

“We’ve also seen patients who come in who are unresponsive, not clear what they took because our drug screens aren’t picking it up,” Dr. Holstege said. “With advanced analytics, you might find this substance, and we have found it in patients.”

Patients who are overdosing on this drug may look like an opioid overdose, but the medicine used to revert this isn’t working.

“This can cause people to have to go on life support. So this is not a benign drug,” Dr. Holstege said. “It can cause death, it can also cause really terrible skin lesions and skin necrosis or breakdown.”

Tranq is used in veterinary medicine as a sedative.

“There’s a lot of substances out right now that drug screens just are not designed to find, and so this is really hard to find,” Dr. Holstege said. “The exact prevalence of it in society, it’s not clear.”

That means some smaller hospitals may not know if a patient has taken it.

Dr. Holstege warns that now, too, it is popping up mixed in with other lethal drugs.

“This is not meant to be used at all in humans,” the doctor said. “It’s an additive effect, it’s going to lead to more deaths, potentially, throughout the United States.”

The Biden administration has declared xylazine an ‘emerging threat.’ In a statement Senator Mark Warner said: “The effects of Xylazine-laced Fentanyl on the human body are horrifying. The increased use of this substance and its spread across the country merit an aggressive whole-of-government response. I’m glad to see the Biden administration zero in on this threat, and I’m ready to push Congress to take action if additional resources or flexibilities are needed for the DEA and other agencies to be effective.”

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