by Denise Purdie Andrews | Oct 14, 2026 | Announcements, Drug Classes
In September, three of Axis’ toxicologists presented at the 2026 combined annual meetings of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT) and The International Association of Forensic Toxicology (TIAFT) in Chicago, Illonois. Axis is fortunate to be able to...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Aug 25, 2026 | Drug Classes
By Stuart Kurtz, D-ABFT-FT We have written previously about the nitazene class of synthetic opioids here. Nitazenes were first synthesized in the 1950s and investigated for use in pain management as alternatives to morphine-based opioids. They were never approved for...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Jul 16, 2026 | Drug Classes
By Kevin G. Shanks, D-ABFT-FT We’ve covered many stimulants on this blog in the past. Most recently, we discussed newer substituted cathinones, MDPHP and Alpha-PHP/PiHP. As a brief summary, substituted cathinones are a class of compounds that are related to...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Jun 12, 2026 | Announcements, Drug Classes
In March, Stuart Kurtz presented at the 2026 annual meeting of the Midwest Association of Toxicology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (MATT) on kratom products and how they’ve changed over the years. Previous blog posts have discussed mitragynine, kratom case reports,...
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Jun 2, 2026 | Announcements, Drug Classes
Axis toxicologists Laureen Marinetti, PhD, F-ABFT, and Stuart Kurtz, M.S, D-ABFT-FT, presented at the Midwest Association of Toxicology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (MATT) Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 18-20, 2026. A recap and update of Dr....
by Denise Purdie Andrews | Apr 21, 2026 | Drug Classes
By Kevin G. Shanks, D-ABFT-FT The term designer opioid generally refers to the class of synthetically derived opioid analogs that are intentionally modified by clandestine chemists to circumvent existing drug laws while maintaining opioid receptor activity. This...
