New sedative causes dangerous trend in overdoses in Worcester

A local first responder is warning about a new drug, mostly seen combined with fentanyl, that is contributing to a dangerous trend in opioid-related overdoses in the Worcester area.

Brian Rettger, who works for Worcester Emergency Medical Services at UMass Memorial Healthcare, told Boston.com he’s seen a “significant spike” in opioid-related overdoses from late July into August around Worcester.

The hospital confirmed that medetomidine, which hasn’t previously been widely detected in the state, contributed to the spike in overdoses.

“We have a poisoned drug supply,” said Melinde Castiel, Worcester’s Commissioner of Health and Human Services told Boston 25 News.

Rettger and his colleagues initially thought the already-known adulterant xylazine, commonly called tranq, was causing overdose patients to remain lethargic for more than 12 hours after being revived with Narcan.

Instead, some rapid testing showed that medetomidine, another type of animal tranquilizer, is now present in Massachusetts. 

“That’s what was surprising us, is we’re so used to being like, oh, xylazine is this new, concerning adulterant, but then all of a sudden we have another one that’s coming up, and it feels like things are moving pretty quickly,” Rettger said.

Medetomidine is not resistant to Narcan, but animal tranquilizers can cause low heart rate, low blood pressure, and a semi-responsive state for hours after receiving care, Rettger said.

“Narcan’s the thing that’s going to save everybody’s life,” he said. “With this kind of pretty rapidly changing landscape, harm reduction is our primary concern.”

Mass overdose outbreaks across the country have been attributed to the presence of medetomidine in the recreational fentanyl drug supply, according to the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education. This year, there’s been large scale outbreaks of overdoses in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.

Rettger said quick testing led to medetomidine’s detection in Massachusetts. With a national grant, Medical Toxicology at UMass sent the blood samples to Pennsylvania to test for any adulterates and detected the medetomidine within 48 hours.

“These veterinary anesthetics present a public health risk,” Rettger said. “People can have some pretty severe and life changing injuries, secondary wounds we’re seeing out of xylazine.”