A drug originally intended solely for animal use is continuing to cause more deaths among people, the Hamilton County Coroner says.Earlier this year, WLWT reported on the warning from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office concerning the growing presence of xylazine. Coroner Lakshmi Kode Sammarco tells WLWT the drug has "never really been tested in humans." Instead, the drug is "meant to be used on animals for cardiac assistance. And it was never meant for human use," Sammarco said.Sammarco spoke with WLWT about what happens when people take xylazine. "Well, xylene will slow their heart rate, slow their breathing and drop their blood pressure and actually can have a paradoxical hypotensive episode as well. So these changes in the blood pressure cause changes in the blood vessels in the skin, and so they have skin breakdown and sores," Sammarco said. "So the skin does, essentially, it breaks down all the layers of the skin, and it also rates and gets underneath, and you can get down to the blood vessels. So where you would normally have skin, you wouldn't have skin; you would just have a big ulcer."Sammarco continued to explain what can happen to a person's body if they take xylazine. "Any time you get infections in your skin, you have problems with sepsis and overall infections, it can spread. And then if you have sepsis, you know, you're affecting all of your organs, including your brain. And you don't want to get abscesses all over your body. And it's possible, if you have sepsis, that you end up getting brain abscesses," Sammarco said. "It's a bad situation."To date, the Hamilton County Coroner's Office reports 116 people have died in the county from drug overdoses in 2023. Forty-one of those cases involve xylazine, with 79 cases in fentanyl. Sammarco analyzed these numbers to say that more than a third of reported overdose deaths involve xylazine, and more than half of cases involving fentanyl also contain xylazine."To me, it's the next step in trying to find something a little different, trying to make the fentanyl go a little bit further so that they can make more money on it," Sammarco said, commenting on the rise of xylazine, not only for people seeking out the drug but also people profiting from its use.Sammarco reminded WLWT that xylazine is not a narcotic or opioid, so the overdose counteracting nasal medication, Narcan, doesn't work on a xylazine overdose. Simply put, Sammarco says xylazine doesn't have a treatment. "But the fact that xylazine is in is usually present with fentanyl means that you should go ahead and try the Narcan because it will at least counteract the effect of fentanyl," Sammarco said."If we get the heart started again, get that blood flow and oxygen, it can help," Newtown Chief of Police and co-chair of the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition Tom Synan said of the work that can be done to help reverse an overdose. Synan says first responders are being encouraged and instructed to intervene in overdoses, even if they believe xylazine is involved. "So continue to give Narcan no matter what, CPR and call 911. The other thing we're doing is we're really trying to change the messaging around us because it's got some derogatory terms, and we will not use these in the coalition."Especially, Synan said the coalition is not using the terms like "tranq" and "zombie drug" to describe or use as a slang term for xylazine. "We want people to get help," Synan said. "We want first responders to help them. And we want people actually who are in substance use disorder, who have these injuries or have this disorder of addiction. We want them to be able to get help."As people transition to summer and potentially have more free and social time, Sammarco has this word of caution when it comes to xylazine and other drugs."I just stay off of it. Don't get anywhere near it. Don't go down that road. If you even you're at some party and you know somebody is offering you something for free, there's a great word, 'No,'" Sammarco said. "And all we can do as adults in the community is educate, explain and trust that they have the intelligence to make proper decisions. But when they don't, we need to be there to help them do that. And this is truly life and death."Those interested in obtaining Narcan can do so through an over-the-counter purchase but may contact their local public health department to potentially obtain them for free.