Impact of the Opioid Epidemic on Drug Testing

This review provides a description of how the opioid epidemic has impacted drug testing. Four major service areas of drug testing were considered, including emergency response, routine clinical care, routine forensics, and death investigations. Several factors that the opioid epidemic has impacted i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTherapeutic drug monitoring Vol. 43; no. 1; p. 14
Main Authors McMillin, Gwendolyn A, Johnson-Davis, Kamisha L, Kelly, Brian N, Scott, Bonnie, Yang, Yifei K
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.02.2021
Subjects
Analgesics, Opioid - therapeutic use
Drug Overdose - epidemiology
Humans
Opioid Epidemic
Opioid-Related Disorders - drug therapy
Opioid-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Practice Patterns, Physicians
Substance Abuse Detection
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Summary:This review provides a description of how the opioid epidemic has impacted drug testing. Four major service areas of drug testing were considered, including emergency response, routine clinical care, routine forensics, and death investigations. Several factors that the opioid epidemic has impacted in drug testing are discussed, including specimens, breadth of compounds recommended for testing, time to result required for specific applications, analytical approaches, interpretive support requirements, and examples of published practice guidelines. Both clinical and forensic laboratories have adapted practices and developed new testing approaches to respond to the opioid epidemic. Such changes are likely to continue evolving in parallel with changes in both prescription and nonprescription opioid availability and use patterns, as well as emerging populations that are affected by the "waves" of the opioid epidemic.
ISSN:1536-3694
DOI:10.1097/FTD.0000000000000841