A powerful veterinary sedative is being added to street fentanyl — and ERs are struggling to cope

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Emergency physicians across Canada say a powerful veterinary sedative is being added to fentanyl sold on streets, complicating their response to overdoses as they juggle patients.

Emergency physicians across Canada say a powerful veterinary sedative is being added to fentanyl sold on streets, complicating their response to overdoses as they juggle patients.

Medetomidine, a synthetic sedative, is used in veterinary surgery and has not been approved for use in humans, nor have its effects on people been well studied. The effect of fentanyl, a key driver of the opioid epidemic in this country, lasts half as long as that of heroin; adulterants like medetomidine are taken to extend it.

The synthetic was first detected in 2023 in Quebec, B.C. and Ontario, with detections increasing substantially in the latter two provinces since then, according to a report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). It has also been found in the Maritime region, and Saskatchewan and Yukon have seen sharp increases this year.

This fall, researchers in Philadelphia…

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