Copyright CBS News
A powerful veterinary sedative called medetomidine was found in two drug samples collected following a mass overdose earlier this month in Baltimore's Penn North community, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Taylor told the Baltimore Banner. On October 8, 11 people reportedly overdosed, and seven of them were treated at the hospital. Narcan was administered to multiple people. The sedative is often mixed with the synthetic opioid fentanyl and can make overdoses harder to reverse, according to the Banner. Medetomidine can be especially dangerous for people who use drugs because naloxone, a commonly used drug to treat opioid overdoses, is not effective against the tranquilizer, the Banner added. Police told WJZ that outreach teams responded to the scene and handed out harm reduction supplies, including Narcan, test strips, safe-use kits, and other resources in the community. Medetomidine linked to Philadelphia overdose clusters The Banner reported that medetomidine appears to have entered Maryland's drug supply after it was linked to overdose clusters in Philadelphia in 2024. According to the Banner, a state testing program that looks at the composition of illicit drugs used on the street has infrequently found the sedative in its sampling of the city. However, the Banner reports that, in sampling from Cecil County, which is closer to the Philadelphia region, the program detected medetomidine in nearly 70% of the substances tested this year. Mass overdose responses There have been three mass overdose incidents reported in the Penn North community within four months. In July, more than 30 people were hospitalized after two mass overdoses were reported in the West Baltimore neighborhood. The first incident on July 10 sent 27 people to the hospital. Crews initially responded to the area of Pennsylvania and North Avenues for multiple reported overdoses. Once they arrived, a community member directed them to more unresponsive people. Nearly one week later, five more people overdosed in the same community, police said. According to officers, there was no evidence to suggest the two incidents were related. Overdose deaths in Baltimore Overdose deaths declined by 25% between 2023 and 2024, according to data from the Baltimore City Health Department. Baltimore reported 778 overdose deaths in 2024, compared to 1,043 overdose deaths in 2023. So far this year, through September, there have been 362 overdose deaths reported in Baltimore, according to data from the Maryland Health Department.
