The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday said it has moved to restrict the illicit import of xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that is increasingly making its way across the nation as a street drug.
Xylazine is the active ingredient in a potent animal drug widely used to sedate dogs, cats, as well as large animals like horses and deer. The drug has never been approved by the FDA for use in humans, as it may cause serious and life-threatening side effects to the human body, including severe skin wounds and rotting tissue.
Citing a growing number of reports of xylazine being found in overdose deaths, the FDA on Tuesday issued an import alert, allowing agents to detain shipments of drugs containing xylazine, both finished product and substances used to make it, that appear to be adulterated or misbranded….