Trends in fentanyl and fentanyl analogue-related overdose deaths - Montgomery County, Ohio, 2015-2017.

Introduction: There is a lack of information on illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogue-related (IMF) unintentional overdose death trends over time. The study analyzes IMF-related unintentional overdose fatalities that occurred between July 2015 and June 2017 in Montgomery County, Ohio, an area with the highest rates of unintentional overdose mortality in Ohio.

Methods: LC-MS/MS-based method was used to identify fentanyl analogs and metabolites in 724 unintentional overdose death cases.

LC-MS/MS-Based Method for the Multiplex Detection of 24 Fentanyl Analogues and Metabolites in Whole Blood at Sub ng mL Concentrations.

The United States and numerous other countries worldwide are currently experiencing a public health crisis due to the abuse of illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) and its analogues. This manuscript describes the development of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based method for the multiplex detection of = 24 IMF analogues and metabolites in whole blood at concentrations as low as 0.1-0.

Overdose Deaths Related to Fentanyl and Its Analogs - Ohio, January-February 2017.

Ohio is experiencing unprecedented loss of life caused by unintentional drug overdoses (1), with illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) emerging as a significant threat to public health (2,3). IMF is structurally similar to pharmaceutical fentanyl, but is produced in clandestine laboratories and includes fentanyl analogs that display wide variability in potency (2); variations in chemical composition of these drugs make detection more difficult. During 2010-2015, unintentional drug overdose deaths in Ohio increased 98%, from 1,544 to 3,050.

Analysis of synthetic cathinones commonly found in bath salts in human performance and postmortem toxicology: method development, drug distribution and interpretation of results.

To date, the Toxicology Section of the Montgomery County Coroner's Office/Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory has identified six synthetic cathinones, commonly found in bath salt products, in 43 cases. Thirty-two cases will be reviewed here, including all of the postmortem cases, all of the human performance cases that had blood specimens submitted, and one urine-only human performance case. The following compounds have been confirmed: 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), 3,4-methylenedioxymethcathinone (methylone), pyrovalerone, pentylone, alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (alpha-PVP) and methedrone.

Quantitation of first- and second-generation antipsychotics by LC-MS/MS.

Antipsychotic drugs are becoming a larger part of the prescription drug market. In combination with -traditional indications for prescribing these drugs, new effective therapies are proving worthwhile as well. Here, a successful method for detecting both first- and second-generation antipsychotics is presented using a solid phase extraction method and LC-MS/MS detection.

Vitreous fluid quantification of opiates, cocaine, and benzoylecgonine: comparison of calibration curves in both blood and vitreous matrices with corresponding concentrations in blood.

Vitreous fluid specimens are often used in the Montgomery County Coroner's Office as a second matrix confirmation for both cocaine and opiate analyses. In this manuscript, calibration curves constructed for both vitreous and blood were used to quantify vitreous specimens to evaluate if any matrix effects occur when measuring vitreous specimens using a calibration curve in blood. Cases that screened positive by ELISA for cocaine metabolite and opiates were confirmed by solid-phase extraction.