Flesh Eating Drug Krokodil Latest News Updates & Videos: Outbreak Spreads Across U.S.; Watch Graphic Video
A flesh-eating drug that was first found in Arizona in September has now spread further east with a reported case of the drug's usage in Columbus Ohio.
The drug, Krokodil, originally discovered in Russia a decade ago appeared in the United States back in September, when two cases of the drug surfaced at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, as Enstars reported. The drug has now spread to Ohio, where a homeless man suffering from the greenish-black legions associated with using the drug, told medics he had done so.
"The patient had a large, open wound and it is consistent with what we've been seeing, or the trend when people use this type of medicine," Deputy Fire Chief Jim Davis said.
Krokodil, Russian for "crocodile," is considered to be a cheaper and more potent substitute for heroin, and gets its name from the sores, tissue damage and rough scale-like appearance it leaves on the skin.
The drug is a homemade concoction, usually consisting of codeine pills and household products such as paint thinner and gasoline. The impurities in the chemicals can cause flesh to decay after injecting the drug into the system.
Other cases of the drug have been reported in Oklahoma and Illinois as well, according to The Huffington Post.
Despite the increase in cases being reported in various states, the Drug Enforcement Administration has yet to officially confirm the presence of the drug in the U.S.
