Krokodil Cases Being Investigated- DEA 'Very Concerned' Over Reports Of Flesh_0
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Over the past few weeks, doctors in and have reported treating users of krokodil, a flesh-destroying drug new to the United States.
On Friday, The Huffington Post obtained a statement from Jack Riley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Chicago Field Division that outlined the [url=
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鈥淭he DEA is very concerned about the recent news that several patients who were treated at Presence St. Joseph [url=
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The statement signals a shift from previous comments reported by Fox News on Thursday, in which Drug Enforcement [url=
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鈥淲e, the DEA, are not seeing cases of [url=
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The , and had anticipated its arrival in the United States.
"We're looking at it overseas, but we have not seen it yet in the U.S.," DEA spokesman Rusty Payne told Fox News at the time. "But we would not be surprised when that day comes."
The drug is made by boiling down codeine tablets with substances like gasoline, paint thinner or lighter fluid. It reportedly gives a high similar to heroin, but at a fraction of the cost. Once injected, the impurities in the concoction lead to extensive tissue damage, which causes flesh to rot away.
The drug gets its name from the green, scaly sores that users often develop. have circulated on the Internet.
Although , where hundreds of thousands of users were reported in 2010, the drug has apparently made landfall in the United States.
In September, doctors in Arizona sounded the alarm after were reported in the state.
In a statement issued earlier this week, Dr. Abhin Singala, a specialist at Presence St. Joseph Medical Center in the Chicago suburb of Joiliet, Ill., claimed to have already treated three patients for use of the drug.
"It is a horrific way to get sick. The . Intensive treatment and [url=
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According to the Herald-News, the three patients Singla treated were local women under age 25 whose arms and legs were "." A spokeswoman for the treatment center told Fox News that a fourth potential case was identified Thursday.
