CHICAGO (WAND) — Three young adults in their 20s were sent to intensive care units after taking what they thought was Xanax, also known as alprazolam.
Researchers say that three patients, two 25-year-old men and one 20-year-old woman, were found unresponsive in February of 2023 after taking bromazolam, a “designer” benzodiazepine derivative synthesized in 1976, but never approved for therapeutic use. The three were treated at Chicago-area emergency departments for elevated temperatures, seizures, and myocardial injury. The Illinois Poison Center (IPC) assisted in evaluation and management.
Two of the three patients were discharged after multi-day hospital stays with various medical effects, including aphasia, dysphagia, neurologic deficits, and hearing loss. The third patient was transferred to a second hospital and further follow-up on that patient's condition was not possible.
According to the IPC, the drug bromazolam has become increasingly present in the illicit drug supply in combination with fentanyl or in counterfeit benzodiazepine preparations. Data from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) reveals in Illinois bromazolam-involved deaths increased from 10 in 2021 to 51 in 2022.
Researchers say although mostly detected alongside fentanyl or other opioids, consumption of bromazolam can be life-threatening even in the absence of other drugs.
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