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As reports of overdoses involving a sedative often used by veterinarians rise on the East Coast, one San Francisco leader is urging the city to more closely monitor the local drug supply for its presence. Medetomidine, a synthetic depressant, is showing up more often in recreational drug markets around the U.S., according to an advisory this month from the Center for Forensic Science Research & Education and its early warning program, NPS Discovery. Among street drugs, it is most commonly detected as an adulterant in fentanyl. (Johnson, 5/28)

Just as San Francisco is seeing a slight dip in fatal drug overdoses, a new powerful animal sedative has made its way into America’s illicit drug supply and is causing waves of overdoses across the country. Medetomidine is the latest street drug to appear alongside fentanyl. A synthetic drug used for veterinary anesthesia, medetomidine reportedly causes “heightened sedation” and “profound bradycardia,” or slowed heart rate, according to researchers. (Angst, 5/28)

For years at this downtown public health clinic, staffers have given drug users small glass pipes along with sterile needles and other supplies. The strategy: Users might choose to smoke street drugs — limiting infected wounds and the spread of diseases that come with injecting. Some public health advocates and drug users believe smoking fentanyl — the street opioid fueling thousands of deaths — may also lessen chances of a fatal overdose compared with injecting the drug. Scott, a user picking up supplies on a recent weeknight, now smokes fentanyl more than he uses needles because injections caused his hands to swell and damaged his veins. He said he overdosed twice when injecting fentanyl but never while smoking. (Ovalle, 5/29)

Over the course of half a dozen trips to Washington, D.C., Dawn Chapman has become accustomed to long days of congressional meetings and questions about St. Louis’ decades-long struggle with radioactive contamination. Chapman, co-founder of Just Moms STL, wraps her feet with duct tape to keep her shoes from giving her blisters, and she and fellow advocates pack their schedules with meetings to ask lawmakers to expand compensation for those exposed to the U.S. nuclear weapons program. (Kite, 5/28)

By the time baby Apollo was a year old, Sana and Zach Garner knew their son with cerebral palsy would need support from a highly specialized medical team to reach developmental milestones like holding a toy or bringing a sippy cup to his lips. So they moved their family of three from New York City to Philadelphia to seek care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (Gantz, 5/29)