Flesh-Eating ‘Zombie' Drug In LA As Overdoses Plague The Homeless

LOS ANGELES, CA — The leading cause of death among homeless people in Los Angeles is now drug overdoses due to a dramatic spike in fentanyl deaths, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Even as the community grapples with the enormous toll of fentanyl overdoses, another deadly drug is plaguing the city's streets Los Angeles County health and sheriff's department officials are warning.

In early spring, the health department warned that Xylazine, a sedative and muscle relaxant drug used by veterinarians to anesthetize animals, was making its way into the local drug supply. Xylazine is known as tranq or the flesh-eating “zombie drug” because it rots the skin and disfigures users.

“I’ve never seen anything like what we’re dealing with right now,” addiction expert Cary Quashen told KTLA. “We had a woman come in and her sister had passed away from a fentanyl overdose.But not only was it a fentanyl overdose (but) her skin was starting to rot, the muscles on her leg and her arm. So that’s a sure sign of xylazine.”

Xylazine is often combined with other drugs, enhancing it's deadly impact. It was first detected in drug samples in San Francisco and San Diego earlier this year.

"Xylazine comes in a clear liquid that is cooked down into a powder form and is mixed with illicit opioids such as heroin or fentanyl, or pressed into counterfeit pills (e.g., Norco, Percocet, Vicodin, etc.) or sedatives (Xanax) as a cheap additive to increase the effects of these drugs," the county health department warned. "When mixed with opioids and other central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol or sedatives, xylazine intensifies the effects, including sedation (drowsiness leading to unresponsiveness) and respiratory depression (slowed or stopped breathing), which can lead to a fatal overdose. Most people who are purchasing or being given illicit drugs are not seeking xylazine and likely do not know that xylazine may be present in the drugs they are trying to obtain."

Driven primarily by fentanyl overdoses, the rate of deaths among homeless people in Los Angeles County spiked upward by 55% between 2019 and 2021, according to a report released Friday by the county Department of Public Health.

According to the report, the mortality rate among the homeless from all causes in 2019 was 2,056 per 100,000, but that rate rose to 3,183 per 100,000 in 2021, the most recent figures available. In terms of actual numbers, 1,289 homeless people in the county died in 2019, while 2,201 died in 2021.

Drug overdoses were identified as the leading cause of death among the homeless, accounting for 37% of all fatalities in 2020 and 2021 combined. That equates to about two deaths per day on average, according to the county. The rate of deaths among the homeless attributed to overdoses doubled between 2019 and 2021, the report found.

The percentage of overdose deaths attributed to the opioid fentanyl nearly tripled in that same span, going from 20% in 2019 to 58% in 2021. The county noted that in 2021, 71% of all fentanyl deaths among the homeless also involved methamphetamine.

"This report underscores the enormous destruction fentanyl is causing our communities," county Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. "To know that people experiencing homelessness are 39 times more likely to die of a drug overdose compared to the overall population of L.A. County is yet another painful reminder of the harm our unhoused neighbors experience, and why we must continue to move with urgency to address the crisis on our streets. We need to get people inside, in treatment, and supported with wraparound services. We also need to expand the availability of (anti-overdose medication) Narcan for all who serve the public to use as a vital, life-saving tool."

The second leading cause of death among the homeless in 2021 was coronary heart disease. According to the county, heart disease accounted for 14% of deaths among the homeless in 2020 and 2021 combined, equating to about five per week.

The third leading cause was traffic injuries, followed by homicide and COVID-19.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.