People hospitalized after using fentanyl contaminated with the veterinary sedative medetomidine described sedation they could not fight off and withdrawal that standard treatment did not fully relieve, according to a brief research report published this week in Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine interviewed 16 adults with opioid use disorder who had confirmed medetomidine exposure and were hospitalized between September and November 2025.
Participants said they felt powerless to avoid the drug and that the extreme sedation made them more vulnerable to harm. Many said standard medications for opioid use disorder did not adequately address their symptoms, according to a summary from the American College of Physicians, which publishes the journal.
