By Stuart Kurtz, D-ABFT-FT
Last month, Axis was represented at the Midwest Association for Toxicology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring’s annual meeting. Toxicologist Stuart Kurtz gave a presentation on the lab’s detections of carfentanil since Axis started testing for it in 2016. The focus of this presentation was on the increase in detections Axis noticed in 2023 and where Axis has been detecting carfentanil. This data is only representative of casework Axis has done.
In a previous blog post, we wrote about a minor surge in detections in early to mid-2023. Due to the potent nature of carfentanil and implications for public health concerns, we wanted to refresh everyone’s minds that this drug can still be found in casework.
*2024 is evaluated for 01/01/2024-04/26/2024
In the last month and a half since we looked at our 2024 data, Axis now has 61 detections for carfentanil. This puts 2024 on pace to be the 2nd highest year for detections since Axis started testing for it. It should be noted that prior to 2020, carfentanil was not included in Axis’ routine screening. It’s now a part of our 70510: Comprehensive Panel with Analyte Assurance or as part of the 13810: Designer Opioids Panel.
While carfentanil detections represent a small percentage of total casework, ~1% in 2024 so far, its recent increase in detections was noticed in June 2023. Axis had 4 cases that month with a 5th case at the end of May. At this point, Axis’ toxicologists began to monitor the increase in detections to see if it continued. The number of detections held steady until a large increase November 2023. The main areas where this occurred were Florida and Kentucky. In a meeting with other members of Florida toxicology labs, they mentioned that they also saw an increase in detections of carfentanil around that time. In January 2024, detections in Florida decreased almost to zero while Kentucky remained steady. Kentucky continues to be the area with the most detections in 2024. Other states such as Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas are also seeing detections in 2024.
*April 2024 is evaluated through 04/26/2024.
As always, please reach out to Axis’ toxicologists with any questions regarding this data or help interpreting your results. You can email us at [email protected] or call us at 317-759-4869 option 3.