Tranquilizer News and Research

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An Arm and a Leg: The accidental architect of America’s drug patent problem

Depending on whom you ask, Alfred Engelberg could be a hero or a villain in the story of American pharmaceuticals.

20 Apr 2026

Cosmetic surgeries led to disfiguring injuries, patients allege

A few days after a harrowing cosmetic surgery procedure, Erin Schaeffer said, she woke up with fluid leaking from an open wound in her stomach.

28 Jul 2025

Study identifies strategies for expanding low-barrier wound care services for people who use drugs

A new study published in the Harm Reduction Journal identifies critical factors and strategies for expanding low-barrier wound care services for people who use drugs (PWUD).

19 Jun 2025

Prescription drug misuse rates higher among adults with disabilities

Adults with disabilities are nearly twice as likely to misuse prescription drugs as adults without disabilities, according to West Virginia University research.

4 Mar 2025

Pittcon addresses synthetic psychedelics crisis; Boston 2025 to advance collaboration

Pittcon 2025 in Boston will connect industry experts to combat the synthetic psychedelic threat, enhancing testing protocols and public health initiatives.

From Pittcon 10 Jan 2025

Caseworkers coax homeless people out of Las Vegas’ tunnels for treatment

Case manager Bryon Johnson flashed a light into a dark tunnel beneath the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip on a recent fall afternoon. He stepped into an opening in a concrete ditch littered with trash and discarded clothing to search an underground world for his homeless clients.

23 Dec 2024

Exploring the impact of xylazine on wound care needs

The animal tranquilizer xylazine is increasingly found in the illicit opioid supply nationwide, leading to severe wounds among people who use drugs. New research led by a University of Pittsburgh physician-scientist and published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence seeks to understand the wound care experiences of this population.

22 Aug 2024

Research highlights complexity of xylazine and fentanyl combination in overdose cases

Unregulated use of fentanyl and overdose deaths have increased dramatically in recent years, and this trend was made more alarming when authorities found fentanyl laced with the animal tranquilizer xylazine.

16 May 2024

West Virginia city once battered by opioid overdoses confronts ‘fourth wave’

From 2006 through 2014, more than 81 million painkiller pills were shipped to this city and surrounding rural Cabell County.

13 Mar 2024

Horse sedative use among humans spreads in deadly mixture of ‘tranq’ and fentanyl

Andrew McClave Jr. loved to lift weights. The 6-foot-4-inch bartender resembled a bodybuilder and once posed for a photo flexing his muscles with former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan.

26 Feb 2024

Evolving overdose crisis shakes previously effective treatments

"You can't inject a horse tranquilizer and think nothing bad is gonna happen" to you, said Ty Sears, 33, a longtime drug user now in recovery.

21 Nov 2023

New antibody shows promise in reversing carfentanil overdoses

An antibody in single-chain fragment variable (scFv) format that binds to the powerful opioid carfentanil was shown to reverse signs of carfentanil overdose in preclinical tests conducted by scientists at Scripps Research.

7 Aug 2023

Xylazine can exacerbate the life-threatening effects of opioids, rat study shows

A new study in rats suggests that xylazine, the active ingredient in a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer not approved for human use, can worsen the life-threatening effects of opioids.

21 Jun 2023

Death of a 43-year-old male marks the entry of 'zombie' drug into the UK

The death of a 43-year-old male is the first in the UK to be associated with Xylazine and marks the entry of the drug into the UK drug supply.

26 May 2023

New biologic inactivates potent opioid and reverses overdose

A new therapeutic designed by Scripps Research chemists can alter the molecular structure of the potent opioid carfentanil, inactivating the opioid and reversing a carfentanil overdose.

18 Apr 2023

As opioids mixed with animal tranquilizers arrive in Kensington, so do alarming health challenges

Many people living on the streets in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood — the largest open-air drug market on the East Coast — are in full-blown addiction, openly snorting, smoking, or injecting illicit drugs, hunched over crates or on stoops. Syringes litter sidewalks, and the stench of urine fouls the air.

15 Feb 2023

They call it ‘tranq’ — and it’s making street drugs even more dangerous

Approaching a van that distributes supplies for safer drug use in Greenfield, Massachusetts, a man named Kyle noticed an alert about xylazine.

11 Aug 2022

Built for counterterrorism, this high-tech machine is now used to detect fentanyl

Sarah Mackin runs a cotton swab around the inside of a tiny plastic baggie that appears empty. She spreads whatever residue the swab picked up onto a test strip that resembles a Band-Aid, then slides the strip into a buzzing machine about the size of a boxed, take-home pie.

4 Dec 2019

New technique for police to quickly and safely test drug evidence

Scientists have demonstrated a way for police to quickly and safely test whether a baggie or other package contains illegal drugs without having to handle any suspicious contents directly.

17 Sep 2019

Purdue researchers develop new chemical process to find better drug 'fits' for patients

When a medication doesn't "fit" the body quite right, the results can be devastating. Such is the case for thalidomide, which was prescribed in the 1950s and 1960s as a sedative or hypnotic, even for pregnant women.

16 Oct 2018