Medetomidine increasingly detected in drug overdoses

On May 22, the National Drug Early Warning System released a report on “ EMS encounters for nonfatal drug‐related overdoses involving medetomidine in the US January 1, 2023 ‐ April 30, 2026 .” Medetomidine, an alpha‐2 adrenergic agonist traditionally used in veterinary medicine for sedation and analgesia, has been increasingly detected as an adulterant in the unregulated drug supply. Between January 1, 2023, and April 30, 2026, 182 emergency medical services (EMS) encounters for nonfatal drug‐related overdoses involving medetomidine were reported nationwide. This report presents demographic characteristics of non‐suppressed EMS encounters, including age, sex, and race; encounters with fewer than 10 are suppressed. Among the non‐suppressed data, 62.5% of encounters involved white individuals, 21.6% were of unknown race, and 10.4% involved Hispanic individuals. Male patients were more frequently encountered than female patients, with the majority of men aged 40–49 and the majority of women aged 30–39.