Los Angeles County crime lab finds 4% of seized fentanyl samples have flesh-eating 'zombie drug'

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FDA restricting imports of Xylazine over overdose concerns

Fox News medical contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat joined 'Fox & Friends Weekend' to discuss why the agency is taking action against 'tranq' and the broader concerns surrounding the animal tranquilizer. 

A crime lab in Los Angeles County has confirmed the dangerous, flesh-eating drug xylazine has infiltrated the county's illicit drug supply.

Known by the street names, "tranq" or the "zombie drug," the veterinary sedative – which is not FDA approved for humans – is mixed with fentanyl in a deadly combination that can cause necrotic sores. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detected limited quantities of xylazine in illicit drugs seized by local law enforcement, a county press release said.

"The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health stresses that these findings highlight that the illicit drug supply in Los Angeles County remains dangerous and contains substances such as xylazine that can increase overdose deaths," health officials warned. "People who are obtaining these drugs may not be aware that xylazine is present.

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Xylazine is a veterinary sedative that is not FDA approved for human use. It has been mixed with deadly drugs like fentanyl to increase their potency at a low cost.  (Fox News )

The finding comes five months after the Los Angeles Department of Public Health issued a health alert warning that xylazine was being mixed with heroin or fentanyl, or pressed into counterfeit pills or sedatives to cheaply make these drugs more potent.

A three-month pilot program initiated in April to track xylazine detected the drug in controlled substances sent to the sheriff department's crime lab. Of 4,608 samples tested, 320 were found to contain fentanyl, and of those 320 samples 13 had an indication of xylazine, resulting in 4% of all substances with fentanyl also having xylazine, the county said. 

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A bag of evidence containing the synthetic opioid fentanyl disguised as Oxycodone is shown during a press conference led by U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott at the Fresno County Sheriffâs Office on Aug. 19, 2020. (Craig Kohlruss/Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Xylazine has been detected in nearly every state in the country and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have continued to show an increase in xylazine-related overdose deaths. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has warned that because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects. 

Taking xylazine can cause drowsiness and amnesia, and slow breathing, heart rate and blood pressure to dangerously low levels.

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Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that's moving through the illicit drug supply, is causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling long-standing methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Repeated xylazine use is also associated with skin ulcers, abscesses and related complications. Those who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine also can develop necrosis – the rotting of human tissue – that may lead to amputation.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department told the Los Angeles Times that even though xylazine is harmful, it is not illegal and there are few law enforcement options for tackling the drug.

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"There are a bunch of different additives – like vitamin C, which comes up a lot – that we don’t write down," Capt. Ernest Bille, who oversees the department’s Scientific Services Bureau, told the paper. "The mission, given the volume of the caseload that we have, is to figure out: Is this a controlled substance or not?"

There is currently bipartisan legislation in California that would classify xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance, placing it in the same category as ketamine, anabolic steroids and some codeine products, the L.A. Times reported.