CESAR has released a new MD-EDDS Bulletin about patients from Meritus Medical Center testing positive for xylazine. The new Bulletin highlights analyses of 8 xylazine positive patients treated February-May 2023. Meritus submitted 100 specimens testing positive for any drug on the hospital’s standard panel. EDDS retesting found that 36% of these hospital positive specimens were positive for fentanyl and 8% for xylazine. Nearly one in four (22%) of the fentanyl positive specimens were also positive for xylazine.
The findings indicate that xylazine is present in ED cases treated outside of large urban areas in Maryland. Patient conditions varied, but nearly all involved a drug-related diagnosis, all tested positive for multiple drugs including both fentanyl and cocaine, and all suffered from chronic physical or mental health problems.
The MD-EDDS team is planning to collect specimens from approximately 17 additional MD-EDDS hospitals.
