Centre for Pharmaceutical Medicine Research, Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College London, Franklin Wilkins Building, Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NQ, UK.
Department of Toxicology, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Bordesley Green East, Birmingham, B9 5SS, UK.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2023 Jul;97:102542. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102542. Epub 2023 May 22.
On November 8th 2022, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement alerting healthcare professionals to the increasing prevalence of xylazine in illicit drug overdoses in the country. Xylazine is a veterinary medicine with sedative, analgesic and muscle relaxant properties that is used as a heroin/fentanyl adulterant on the illicit drug market in North America. Here we report the first drug-related death associated with xylazine in the United Kingdom.
The National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths (NPSAD) receives reports on drug-related deaths from coroners In England, Wales and Northern Ireland on a voluntary basis. The NPSAD was searched for cases with xylazine detections in cases received by December 31, 2022.
One drug-related death associated with xylazine use was reported to NPSAD by December 31, 2022. The deceased was a 43-year-old male who was found dead at home with drug paraphernalia located at the property in May 2022. The post-mortem examination identified recent puncture wounds to the groin. Coronial documentation reports that the deceased had a history of illicit drug use. A number of drugs were detected by post-mortem toxicology and xylazine was implicated in death alongside heroin, fentanyl and cocaine.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first death associated with xylazine use reported in the UK, and even Europe, and indicates the entry of xylazine into the UK drug supply. This report highlights the importance of monitoring changes in illicit drug markets and the emergence of new drugs.
2022 年 11 月 8 日，美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）发布声明，提醒医疗保健专业人员注意该国阿片类药物过量中苯环己哌啶（xylazine）的流行率不断上升。苯环己哌啶是一种具有镇静、镇痛和肌肉松弛特性的兽医用药，在北美的非法药物市场上被用作海洛因/芬太尼的掺杂物。在此，我们报告了英国首例与苯环己哌啶相关的药物相关死亡事件。
国家药物滥用死亡项目（NPSAD）自愿接收来自英格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰验尸官的药物相关死亡报告。该项目搜索了截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日收到的检测到苯环己哌啶的案例。
截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，NPSAD 报告了一起与苯环己哌啶使用相关的药物相关死亡事件。死者为一名 43 岁男性，于 2022 年 5 月被发现死在家中，其住所发现有吸毒用具。尸检发现腹股沟有近期穿刺伤口。验尸报告显示，死者有非法药物使用史。毒物检测报告发现了多种药物，苯环己哌啶与海洛因、芬太尼和可卡因一起被认为与死亡有关。
据我们所知，这是英国乃至欧洲首例与苯环己哌啶使用相关的死亡报告，表明苯环己哌啶已进入英国毒品供应。本报告强调了监测非法毒品市场变化和新毒品出现的重要性。
