Adulterated Cocaine Causing Serious Skin Reactions; With Up to 70 Percent Contaminated

Adulterated cocaine causing serious skin reactions (PHOTO); with up to 70% contaminated, Doctors warning

Adulterated Cocaine Causing Serious Skin Reactions; With Up to 70 Percent Contaminated, Doctors Warn of Potential Public Health Epidemic

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ScienceDaily (June 21, 2011) — Doctors warned of a potential public health epidemic in a recent report on patients in Los Angeles and New York who developed serious skin reactions after smoking or snorting cocaine believed to be contaminated with a veterinary medication drug dealers are using to dilute, or "cut," up to 70% of the cocaine in the U.S. The report, published online in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, said six patients developed purple-colored patches of necrotic skin on their ears, nose, cheeks and other parts of their body and...

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110620094427.htm


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) http://www.labiomed.org/, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

http://www.labiomed.org/

Journal Reference:

Catherine Chung, Paul C. Tumeh, Ron Birnbaum, Belinda H. Tan, Linda Sharp, Erin McCoy, Mary Gail Mercurio, Noah Craft. Characteristic purpura of the ears, vasculitis, and neutropenia–a potential public health epidemic associated with levamisole-adulterated cocaine. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2010.08.024

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190962210009928