In recent years, the issue of drug overdose has been a constant concern on American streets. According to official federal data, one person dies from a drug overdose every five minutes in the United States. The flesh-eating “zombie drug” is now generating concern on the streets of the United States, literally decaying people’s bodies, and medical professionals appear to be unable to successfully battle its effects.
Tranq, sometimes known as “Zombie Drug” in the United States, is a tranquilizer used on cows and horses. It is overwhelming the country, with individuals obtaining it illegally. It is frequently mixed with other illegal narcotics, such as fentanyl and heroin, by dealers.
Tranq is causing huge difficulty for medical specialists since it has overshadowed the other medications entering the nation illegally. This complicates practically every aspect of treatment and rehabilitation, making it extremely difficult for medical practitioners to address the problem efficiently.
“The clinical picture becomes much more diabolical, a lot harder to follow, and a lot more can go wrong” when tranq is involved, according to Dr Paolo Coppola, the board-certified co-founder of Victory Recovery Partners in Massapequa Park, in a recent interview with The New York Post.
The use of tranq frequently prompts clinicians to turn to alternative drugs to stabilize a patient’s quickly decreasing blood pressure or heart rate
Overdoses involving xylazine are far more difficult to cure, according to Dr. Coppola, because Narcan, the wonder opioid overdose reversal medicine, does not function on the sedative.
“When an addict uses a speedball of cocaine and heroin, we can deal with that without a problem. You reverse the heroin so they start breathing again, and you wait for the cocaine to finish up,” he said.
“Xylazine doesn’t work that way,” the doctor continued. “When they come to the emergency room, you fully expect them to wake up when you push the Narcan… but all of a sudden it’s not working; they’re not waking up.”
Dr. Coppola noted that the use of tranquilizers frequently prompts clinicians to turn to alternative drugs to stabilize a patient’s quickly decreasing blood pressure or heart rate.
“We think, ‘Wait a minute, he’s on suboxone and he’s on a good enough dose, so why is he still irritable and anxious? Why is his blood pressure up? Why is he having seizures?’ Dr. Coppola said, referring to the medication used to treat narcotic dependence.
“If they’ve been using xylazine long enough with their fentanyl, they’ll have withdrawal effects from the xylazine, which screws us up.”