![]() General.Ĭocaine often is diluted with other drugs or chemicals both to increase its weight - dealers can stretch out the amount of powder they sell - and to add to or reduce its potency. "The big question we have right now is, if 90 percent of cocaine users in San Francisco are positive for levamisole and are being exposed to this compound, then why aren't 90 percent of them in the emergency room with these side effects?" said Kara Lynch, associate chief of the chemistry and toxicology lab at S.F. General are leading state and national efforts to diagnose and treat patients. In San Francisco, patients with levamisole poisoning also are getting serious skin conditions that make their skin look black.ĭoctors and lab specialists at S.F. Symptoms include fever, swollen glands, painful sores in the mouth and anus, and an infection that won't go away. Levamisole can significantly reduce the number of white blood cells in the body, a condition called agranulocytosis. At San Francisco General Hospital, where the first cases of the illness were diagnosed, 90 percent of 200 patients who recently tested positive for cocaine also tested positive for levamisole. All of the cases in San Francisco involved women who used either crack or powder cocaine.
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