Poison
control announces flesh eating street drug now in US-Krokodil
Krokodil
The poison control center in Phoenix,
Ariz. has received calls regarding what is believed to the first two
cases of krokodil use in the U.S. Dr. Frank LoVecchio, the
co-medical director at Banner’s Poison Control Center, told CBS affiliate
KPHO in Phoenix that his center dealt with two users of the
dangerous drug.
Krokodil
Krokodil, real
name desomorphine, is an opioid derivative of morphine. Like other opioids such
as heroin, krokodil has a sedative and analgesic effect. Not only is it
fast-acting, but the drug is eight to 10 times more potent than morphine. A
homemade version of the drug is easily made using codine, iodine, gasoline,
paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, lighter fluid and red phosphorus. “They
extract (the drug) and even though they believe that most of the oil and
gasoline is gone, there is still remnants of it.”
Krokodil
It has been gaining attention internationally
because of growing use in Russia, in part because it is cheaper than buying
heroin. About 1 million people in Russia use krokodil
and the drug has been found in other European countries as well, according to
the New York State
Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.
Krokodil
The drug got its nickname from the Russian world
for crocodile, because users tend to develop scale-like, green skin. Medscape
reports that skin can fall off following use, resulting in exposed bones. The
drug also causes blood vessels to rupture and death of the surrounding
tissue. It causes multiple rotting sores. Users can also develop
abscesses and gangrene. “It eats you from the inside out,” LoVecchio explained.
Krokodil has been coined “the drug that eats junkies.”
Krokodil
According to a 2011 profile in TIME,
the average user does not live longer than two to three years. Irina Pavlova, a
user who told her story to the magazine, said at the time she used the drug
daily for six years. Though she was still alive, she had a speech impediment
and “something of a lobotomy patient’s vacant gaze” in addition to
deteriorating motor skills due to brain damage.
Krokodil
The DEA
is currently monitoring the drug as it travels through Europe. Acute management
seems to be similar to heroin, including naloxone, but significant scientific
data is unavailable at this time. The “kitchen laboratory” production of the
drug makes effects difficult to predict.[1] The
difference between Krokodil and heroin will be evident in the physical evidence
of tissue damage at injection sites. It is not unusual for users to present to
the emergency department with exposed skeletal anatomy, ligaments and tendons.[2] Clinical
management of these patients should also include identification and treatment
of infections, as this is a major cause of death in Krokodil users.
Reposted
from CBS news, American Academy of Emergency Medicine and Medscape
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