Carfentanil Increases 3,400% from 2022 to 2023 in Drug Tests

Carfentanil has been detected in urine drug tests 35 times across 12 states in the USA this year, a large increase from the 1 case detected in 2022, according to a Millennium Health Signals Alert. Used in veterinary medicine as a large animal tranquilizer, carfentanil has never been approved for human use.

Carfentanil is a fentanyl analog that is 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 times more potent than morphine. Carfentanil was associated with a significant spike in synthetic opioid overdose deaths in 2016-2017. However, detections of the fentanyl analog declined sharply with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“The results of our analysis add to growing evidence that carfentanil may be making a comeback,” Millennium Health Chief Clinical Officer Angela G. Huskey, PharmD, CPE, said in a statement emailed to Addiction Professional.

A Millenium Health Alert noted that as carfentanil-involved overdose deaths and forensic laboratory detections have begun to re-emerge, law enforcement and public health officials in some states have issued alerts about the presence of carfentanil in the illicit drug supply and its associated harms.

Randox Toxicology

In order to help reduce drug abuse, Randox Toxicology provide drug testing solutions for the detection of carfentanil on our NPS II Biochip. Running on our fully automated Evidence + analyser and semi-automated analyser the Evidence Investigator, our NPS II Biochip can screen for up to 45 samples in 70 minutes.  Excellent assay precision and performance eliminates false reporting, reducing unnecessary confirmatory tests and time lost in the laboratory as a result.

To learn more about our NPS II Biochip, visit: https://www.randoxtoxicology.com/nps-ii/

Or email us at info@randoxoxicology.com