Health
Michigan health officials warn about drugs linked to overdose deaths
KALAMAZOO, Michigan — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is warning people about a potentially dangerous drug called “medetomidine.”
The drug is actually used as an animal tranquilizer when mixed with drugs such as fentanyl, which can be deadly.
Three drug overdose deaths in Michigan have been linked to medetomidine, according to the Swift Toxicology of Opioid Related Mortalities (STORM) project at the Homer Stryker College of Medicine at Western Michigan University.
In all three fatal cases, medetomidine was mixed with other drugs.
“This is something that we're finding in the illicit drug supply right now, in the street drug supply,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan's chief medical officer.
Bagdasarian said medetomidine is only found in street drugs and not in prescription medications.
When ingested, medetomidine can be a central nervous system depressant, slowing brain activity, heart rate and breathing, according to Prentiss Jones Jr., WMed's director of toxicology technology.
Medetomidine, like xylazine, which has similar properties, cannot be reversed by Narcan, making it difficult to help someone who has overdosed.
What makes it even more difficult for health care workers is that, unlike xylazine, medetomidine cannot be detected by test trips.
“We really don't understand what effect medetomidine has on its own or what effect it has in combination with other drugs,” Jones told NewsChannel 3. “We know that it could potentially lead to the same types of things we've seen over the years with the explosion of xylazine.”
WMed's toxicology department began testing opioid-related deaths in January after the Drug Enforcement Administration discovered medetomidine in August 2023.
It is unclear where the drug came from.
Dr. Bagdasarian said this isn't just a problem in Michigan, but is happening across the country, including in New York and Philadelphia.
Although the DEA division in Detroit has found very little medetomidine since 2023, Dr. Bagdasarian said it's only a matter of time before it spreads.
“When new contaminants are found, new substances that increase the potency of street drugs,” Bagdasarian said, “they spread and are found in many places across the country, including Michigan, so we really need to be more aware.”
If a human were to encounter medetomidine, it could be years before an antidote like Narcan is available, Jones said.
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Sources 2/ https://wwmt.com/news/local/health-officials-warning-medetomidine-linked-overdose-deaths-michigan-tranquilizer-xylazine-injection-pill-powder-street-drugs-mdhhs-animal-practical-narcan-heart-rate-health-safety The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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