Withdrawal Cases Soar in Hospitals, While Skin Damage Wanes

Over the last year, as medetomidine quickly replaced xylazine, also known as "tranq," in Philly's street drug supply, emergency rooms saw a stark shift. Cases where drug-addicted patients came in with soft-tissue damage — an injury widely linked to xylazine — dropped by more than half. But the number of patients being admitted for severe withdrawal more than tripled in the same period.