Hospitals and health officials are warning about a dangerous shift in the illicit drug supply after testing revealed fentanyl is being mixed with medetomidine, an animal tranquilizer up to 200 times stronger than xylazine.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health began receiving alerts from hospitals in April of last year about patients arriving with unusually low heart rates and prolonged sedation.
“Folks were coming in with very low heart rates, long periods of sedation, and they were concerned someone changed the supply,” said Dr. Daniel Texeira da Silva of the health department…