2. Most commonly... Fentanyl and #xylazine in combo, about 3:1.
We don't see xylazine-related synthesis impurities but do see fentanyl impurities, so our hypothesis is that xyl is being added intentionally in pure form.
Example from Lexington NC: streetsafe.supply/results/p/3003…
Xylazine one part of *premixed cut* you can buy online from China. Esp in metro NYC, we see specific constellations of 5-8 substances (quinine, lidocaine, gabapentin, procaine, levamisole, etc) that match.
And shout out to Don Jackson of @nc_usu who was the first person in public health to detect #xylazine in North Carolina
Sadly, missed opportunity. Local law enforcement knew about this 4 years ago and chose not to work with anyone in public health on education and prevention.
We first observed #medetomidine in NC in a sample collected in October 2022, in Raleigh. Combined with xylazine, and traces of fentanyl and meth. @LunaJBear streetsafe.supply/results/p/3004…
If you've seen me present in the last year, #medetomidine has been sitting on our team's Watch List (slide 52) for awhile now. cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/schola…
1 🚨Attention please: Turns out #xylazine is a kappa opioid. This validates experience from frontline folks and PWUD. Fresh science from collaborators @nanopharmNC @MadiganLBedard @zenbrainest
Pre-print:
Public health 🧵 below
#TwitteRx #harmreductionbiorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Check out @nanopharmNC's explainer on the lab science. I'll breakdown the #publichealth implications.
@nanopharmNC Basic pharmacology. Mu is the opioid receptor in the brain we usually talk about when we say “opioid” – but there are others. Kappa is less popular, but still very much an opioid receptor. HOWEVER, it’s NOT canonically linked to opioid euphoria.
Let's talk #nalmefene for OD reversal, an old generic drug in new expensive clothes. FDA approved Rx-only nasal spray today. Will this help prevent overdose deaths in the fentanyl-xylazine-strongbenzo era?
Nalmefene was developed in the 1980s by erstwhile Key Pharma in Miami, with help from scientists at @UVA europepmc.org/article/med/39…
It was marketed as an injectable by Baxter Pharma as Revex for alcohol dependence, initially approved in April 1995 and "discontinued on May 21, 2008, for business reasons."
Y'all ready for this? 🍿👊 #NarcanAdCom about to pop off
Use this # to follow today's updates
CONCEPT
The culmination of 2 decades of advocacy to make naloxone OTC
REALITY
2 decades of advocacy erased by overdose crisis profiteers $EBS
Right out the gate, FDA frames this as a solution for saving kids from overdose. Guess that’s why there are so many pediatric anesthesiologists on the AdCom
In the review of the history FDA forgets to credit the people (like Dan Bigg) who invented the intervention
@US_FDA@DrCaliff_FDA listened to harm reduction programs and made it infinitely easier to purchase #naloxone in bulk. With 100,000+ overdose deaths each year, we need BIG solutions.
“There are a lot of abandoned people who were on pain medications, who cannot get access to adequate pain management anymore, and are therefore, increasingly, turning to the street. We hear those stories every day.”
Thanks to @ibdgirl76@LelenaPeacock and others who have shared with me many stories about abandoned CPP. This article from @TaraLaw27 is a solid starting point to recentering folks in pain who can’t get the help they deserve.
To be clear, overdose deaths now mostly involve unregulated street drugs. Those who are dying are heterogenous: people who were on Rx opioids for years, people who never got a single script, suicides from lack of pain ctrl, and occasional users w/o tolerance.