Overdose deaths from fentanyl combined with xylazine surge in some states, CDC reports
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The number of fentanyl overdose deaths that also include xylazine — an animal tranquilizer increasingly mixed into the illicit drug supply — have surged around the country in recent years, new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirm, with xylazine now showing up in more than a quarter of fentanyl deaths from some states. Xylazine, also known as "tranq," is a powerful sedative that is not approved for any use in humans. It does not respond to overdose-reversing medications like Narcan, and it is known for causing gruesome skin wounds in users. The new figures, published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, offer the biggest window to date into the growing toll from xylazine's rapid ascent in the illegal U.S. drug supply through last year. Across 31 states and the District of Columbia which had enough data reported to the CDC on toxicology reports from ov...