Drug Testing

Despite advances in medical, social, and economic sciences, substance (alcohol and drug) abuse continues to be a significant problem in the United States and other countries worldwide. As the following US statistics show, drug abuse — both legal and illegal — occurs in groups of all ages, both genders, and among all levels of socio-economic groups.

• 25 to 50 percent of all visits made to U.S. emergency departments are related to alcohol or drug abuse. Illicit drug use leads to 20,000 deaths each year.
• The annual cost of care for these patients is $10.5 billion.
• 200,000 women are intravenous drug abusers, and 90 percent of these women are of child-bearing age.
• 11 to 15 percent of pregnant women take illicit drugs.

Hospitals and emergency departments are required to screen for a broad spectrum of substances, from aspirin to ecstasy. They must identify, or rule out, unknown substances creating medical emergencies. Generally, drug screening is based on the drugs known to be commonly abused, especially those that are illegal.

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Triage^® Drug of Abuse Panels

Triage Drugs of Abuse (DOA) Panels are point-of-care diagnostic tests capable of detecting up to nine commonly overdosed prescription and illicit drugs in less than 15 minutes. Biosite developed the Triage DOA Panel, its first product, to improve emergency healthcare by providing physicians with real-time results that were never before available in emergency settings.

Triage TOX Drug Screen

The Triage TOX Drug Screen is a fluorescence immunoassay intended to be used with the Triage Meters, to simultaneously detect eight classes of commonly abused drugs in approximately fifteen minutes.