A flesh-eating drug that is popular in Russia and more deadly than heroin has reached St. Louis, with doctors confirming a case in the American Journal of Medicine. Doctors at St Mary's Heath Center have come forward with the story of a patient they treated in December 2012. The 30-year-old man's finger had rotted, turned black and fallen off. He also had severe ulcers across both thighs. The drug addict told doctors that eight months earlier he started using a substance called Krokodil - the Russian name for crocodile - that got its name from turning users skin green and scaly.
@highlight
Krokodil is a homemade concoction that originated in Russia and is 10 times cheaper than heroin
@highlight
Continual use leads to blood vessels bursting and causes the skin to rot
@highlight
Some 30,000 people die in Russia every year because of its affects
@highlight
Doctors in St. Louis have written in the American Journal of Medicine that they treated a drug addict in December 2012 who had been using it for eight months
Krokodil
Krokodil
One of his fingers had fallen off and he had severe open sores on his thighs (pictured) which is @placeholder's leading sympton