New drug, Flysky, spotted in Butler County, results in nonfatal overdose
A new drug associated with at least two fatal overdoses in the Pittsburgh region has been seen in Butler County recently in a nonfatal overdose.
In a Monday interview, Butler County Drug Task Force coordinator and chief detective Tim Fennell said “Flysky” — a combination of heroin and medetomidine — was spotted in Butler County in one nonlethal overdose as of last week.
Medetomidine, a veterinary tranquilizer,emerged in the illicit substance market in 2022 in Maryland, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The substance was detected in two overdoses about two weeks ago in Fayette County, according to its District Attorney Michael Aubele.
“All these (drugs) are dangerous, but you just don’t know what you’re getting,” Aubele said.
Fennell said the recent nonfatal overdose required multiple doses of Narcan, or naloxone, administered over several minutes to counter the overdose. The substance involved is still being analyzed.
“I don’t know what they’re mixing it with yet in this area,” Fennell said.
Narcan may reverse an opioid overdose but will not counteract the medetomidine’s effects, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
Fennell was briefed on the substance by the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center, which is one of 79 fusion centers in the country that help local and state law enforcement share information between each other and the Department of Homeland Security.
Fennell also said almost all heroin he encounters in the county is not “real heroin” but instead a mixture of fentanyl and xylazine, which will not react to Narcan.
“Ninety-nine percent of the stuff is the synthetic stuff,” Fennell said.
