The animal tranquilizer called xylazine or tranq is increasingly found mixed with fentanyl and linked to opioid overdose deaths, the CDC reported Thursday.
Health officials say a veterinary tranquilizer called xylazine, also known as "tranq," is showing up in illegal drugs like the powerful opioid fentanyl, stirring issues in the medical community, as much is still unknown about xylazine and how it affects humans. States like Pennsylvania are now adding xylazine to their list of controlled substances to try to keep it off the streets and allow records to be kept on the drug. Dr. Jeanmarie Perrone, an emergency physician and the director of the Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, told Scripps News that local drug testing shows xylazine almost always co-occurs with fentanyl.
Jessica Layman estimates she has called more than 150 doctors in the past few years in her search for someone to prescribe opioids for her chronic pain. “A lot of