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Hospitals and public labs warn of xylazine and testing gaps as advocates press for more MAT access
Summary
Clinicians, forensic staff and reentry advocates at the Committee on Health roundtable described increasing detections of xylazine and other nonopioid adulterants, limits of bedside testing, and barriers to medication for addiction treatment for older patients on Medicare.
Clinicians, forensic laboratory staff and reentry advocates told the Committee on Health that the District’s illicit drug supply is changing and that hospitals and labs need more resources to test, treat and follow people who survive overdoses.
Thaddeus Winston, overdose survivor outreach coordinator at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, told the committee that clinicians have seen a surge in a presentation in which patients are unresponsive despite naloxone. He said this pattern is consistent with the spread of alpha‑2 agonist adulterants such as xylazine and related compounds. "I'm ringing the alarm: in the past two months we've seen 40 of these identical presentations," Winston said, and he recommended expanded toxicology testing and consideration of…
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