Skin Rotting, Amputations: US Doctor Highlights The Alarming Reality Of 'Zombie' Drug Xylazine

Xylazine, a potent animal tranquilizer, has been wreaking havoc across the US, contributing to a surge in overdose deaths and severe health crises. Commonly referred to as "tranq," the sedative is frequently mixed with fentanyl to intensify and prolong its effects. 

In 2023, the US Drug Enforcement Administration found xylazine in 30% of fentanyl powder samples and 6% of fentanyl pills it tested. Philadelphia, considered the epicenter of the tranq epidemic, recorded the drug's involvement in 38% of all unintentional overdose deaths that year. 

A Philadelphia orthopedic surgeon has now warned that the tranq crisis is showing no signs of slowing down. 

"In terms of the frequency with which we're seeing patients with xylazine-related wounds, five years ago we were not seeing any. Now we are seeing at the larger university hospitals around Philadelphia daily, if not weekly, these patients with these problems," Dr. Asif Ilyas, an orthopedic surgeon and opioid use researcher at Rothman Orthopaedics and Drexel University in Philadelphia, told The New York Post.

📍For informational purposes:

These chilling scenes are coming out of Philadelphia, USA, linked to the widespread use of a drug called Xylazine.

It's so potent that it's been described as a drug that “zombifies” humans 😳

Could this be the beginning of an apocalypse? pic.twitter.com/r8Uiq2rYCz

— ADTed✨ (@Eduo_Prince) September 6, 2025

Xylazine is a potent α-2 adrenergic agonist, first synthesised by Bayer in 1962 as a blood pressure medication. However, due to severe side effects, it was repurposed for veterinary use. It later emerged as a street drug in Puerto Rico in the early 2000s.

Its misuse has raised concerns due to its opioid-like effects, leading to recreational use and addiction. Often mixed with fentanyl, xylazine prolongs the opioid's short-lived high. Upon injection, it induces a trance-like state by relaxing muscles, relieving pain, and reducing norepinephrine release in the central nervous system, resulting in a zombie-like effect.

Dangerous Effects of Xylazine

Xylazine can cause a dangerously slow heart rate, low blood pressure, and breathing difficulties due to lowered norepinephrine levels. Additionally, it constricts blood vessels, leading to severe skin wounds that are a hallmark of xylazine use.

"Xylazine is an animal sedative that causes both local tissue toxicity and local vasoconstriction, which basically means it decreases blood supply and oxygen to an area, thereby making the tissue more susceptible to dying," Ilyas said.

Xylazine wounds can resemble flesh-eating bacterial infections and may require amputation. Most users inject into their arms and legs, where the damage is most severe, with some cases resulting in limbs auto-amputating due to tissue necrosis, leaving bones exposed and requiring medical attention.

The severity of xylazine wounds also varies based on dosage, usage frequency, and individual tolerance. A significant challenge, the doctor noted, is that patients often leave hospitals prematurely, forgoing necessary surgical treatment and addiction care.

"We can debride these wounds, and we can potentially reconstruct them depending upon the severity and depth of the injury.  But if the individual goes on to continue injecting, then the intervention, the surgical reconstruction, has been for naught, and there's significant cost and time associated with that," Ilyas added. 

Early treatment can help patients regain function, but irreversible damage to muscles, tendons, or nerves can make full recovery impossible. However, xylazine addiction is treatable. One woman, Tracey McCann, overcame her addiction after a 45-day rehab program and now shares her journey on social media, raising awareness about the dangers of xylazine and the possibility of recovery.