Opioid Overdoses Rise In Central MA As Veterinary Anesthetic Enters Drug Supply

WORCESTER, MA — Two relatively new drug adulterants have been found in the supply in Massachusetts, and one may be behind a recent rise in opioid overdoses.

Officials at UMass Memorial in Worcester told Boston 25 that they have found the powerful veterinary sedative medetomidine in patients who have recently been treated for overdoses.

Dr. Matilde Castiel, Worcester's health commissioner, told the station that the local drug supply has been "poisoned" with adulterants that are making it harder for doctors to treat overdoses. The effects of drugs like medetomidine and xylazine — which has previously been found in the local drug supply — can't be reversed by anti-opioid medications like naloxone.

Earlier this month, police in Milford drew attention to a bulletin issued by the Massachusetts Drug Supply Data Stream (MADDS) about the increasing presence of nitazenes in the drug supply. That class of opioid comes in a variety of strengths, with some weaker than fentanyl, but some as much as 40 times as strong.

According to the bulletin, nitazenes had yet to be found in Worcester County, but has been found in almost all the surrounding counties. Nitazene overdoses can be treated by naloxone, according to the bulletin.

The new drugs are entering the supply at a time when Massachusetts documented its first year-over-year downturn in overdose deaths since 2019 in 2023. Still, over 2,100 people died of opioid-related overdoses last year.