KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A new drug called N-Propionitrile Chlorphine has been involved in 41 deaths in East Tennessee, according to the Knox County Regional Forensic Center.
On Monday, the center said that the new drug, also known as cychlorphine, was included in the toxicology of 41 deaths in Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, McMinn, Roane, Sevier and Union counties between July 2025 and February 2026.
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The drug was also detected in five other overdose deaths, but more studies are needed to definitively link it to the deaths in those cases, Knox County RFC said.
In March, the Tennessee Department of Health said cychlorphine might be ten times stronger than fentanyl and had been linked to 30 overdose deaths in the last six months…