Topics in Drug Testing from Quest Diagnostics

Pharmacogenomics in mental health and addiction

Today’s podcast discussion will focus on clinical care for patients with mental health disorders. Will discuss and share information regarding:
Mental health disorder and substance abuse prevalence
The clinical utility of pharmacogenomics in mental health and addiction
Mental health disorders and medication nonadherence
The episode will feature Quest Senior Medical Advisor, Dr Jeff Gudin; Medical Liaison Jack Kain, PharmD; and Director, Medical Science Liaison—Neurology and Pharmacogenomics, Raymond Lorenz.

Implementing a Drug Monitoring Protocol in your practice

Today’s podcast discussion will focus on appropriate steps to take to implement an effective Drug Monitoring Protocol in your practice. Key information shared will include:
Some of the key challenges facing clinicians today
Important steps to take for implementing a responsible drug monitoring protocol
How Quest can help
The episode will feature Quest Senior Medical Advisor, Dr Jeff Gudin; Medical Liaison Jack Kain, PharmD; and Senior Product Manager Jason Suomala, for the Quest Diagnostics Drug Monitoring and Toxicology division.

Alternative Specimen Collection Options

Today’s podcast discussion will focus on the importance of drug monitoring and the benefits of “alternative” sample collection options during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key information shared will include:
How clinical drug monitoring is a critical tool to help assess prescription compliance with controlled substances and help identify drug misuse
Situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-office collection isn't always possible
Quest Diagnostics’ offerings for alternative specimen collection options, including:- Self /At-Home collection- Patient Service Center collection
How alternative collection options can help ensure your patients get the testing they need
The episode will feature Quest Senior Medical Advisor, Dr Jeff Gudin, and Jason Suomala, Senior Product Manager for the Quest Diagnostics Drug Monitoring and Toxicology division.

The epidemic within the pandemic

Today’s podcast will share results of a recent Quest Diagnostics Health Trends™ publication, The Opioid Epidemic Within the COVID-19 Pandemic: Drug Monitoring in 2020, which was published in the October 2020 edition of Population Health Management. The study objective was to better understand the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the drug epidemic in the US. To achieve this objective, investigators analyzed urine specimen results from an analytic cohort of 872,762 specimens from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Findings demonstrated significant changes in prescription drug monitoring and positivity rates for many drugs of concern. Important study results and conclusions discussed will include:
Clinical drug testing decreased significantly during the pandemic period
Nonprescribed positivity for fentanyl, heroin, and other drugs of concern increased significantly
Many dangerous drug combinations, including combinations with fentanyl,  increased significantly
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of patients at risk for substance use disorder
The role of clinical drug monitoring
This episode features Dr Jeff Gudin, senior medical advisor, Quest Diagnostics Drug Monitoring and Toxicology, and Justin Niles, lead medical informatics analyst for Quest Diagnostics Health Trends™.

Drug testing for stimulants

Today’s podcast will cover drug testing for stimulants and will highlight some of the challenges in results interpretation for this class of drugs. Important information shared during the discussion will include:
What is classified as a stimulant
Analysis of Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, and MDMA
Interpretation challenges
Synthetic stimulants
The role of clinical drug monitoring
Quest Diagnostics amphetamine drug testing offering
 
The episode features Dr Les Edinboro, PhD, executive science director, and Dr Jeff Gudin, senior medical advisor, Quest Diagnostics Drug Monitoring and Toxicology.

Drug Monitoring in Behavioral Health and during times of crisis

Today’s podcast will cover the role of clinical drug monitoring in Behavioral Health and during times of crisis. Important information shared will include:
Mental Health disorders, diagnosis and prevalence
The challenge of medication adherence in mental health treatment
The impact of crises on the treatment of patients with mental health conditions
The role of clinical drug monitoring
 
The episode features Dr Jeff Gudin, senior medical advisor and Dr Jack Kain, medical science liaison for the Quest Diagnostics Drug Monitoring and Toxicology division.

Drug Misuse in America

Today’s podcast will cover key findings from the annual Quest Diagnostics Health Trends report, Drug Misuse in America. Some of the key topics shared will include:
Summary of analysis of more than 4.4 million de-identified drug monitoring tests performed by Quest Diagnostics from 2011 through 2018
Findings of a Harris Poll survey of 500 primary care physicians, as part of Health Trends report analysis
Highlights of the evolving drug misuse crisis in America, including Drug mixing and the overdose death connection
Key challenges facing physicians today, with regards to identifying drug misuse, and treating patients with chronic pain
The role and importance of drug monitoring and incorporating it into medical practice
This episode features Dr Jeff Gudin, senior medical advisor, Quest Diagnostics Drug Monitoring and Toxicology, and Justin Niles, lead medical informatics analyst for Quest Diagnostics Health Trends™. 

Kratom: Identifying ”a drug of concern”

Today’s podcast will cover testing for kratom, a drug of concern. Some of the key information shared will include:
What is kratom?
What is the chemical make-up?
Kratom toxicity and side effects
Testing for kratom
Why testing is important?
How to test for kratom
What testing will tell you
This episode features Jack Kain, PharmD, Quest Diagnostics medical science liaison, and Jeff Gudin, MD, senior medical advisor, Quest Diagnostics drug monitoring. 

Why and when to use oral fluid testing

Today's podcast will cover why and when to use oral fluid testing. Some key topics shared will include:
What is oral fluid testing?
Comparison of oral fluid testing to other methods of testing
The benefits of oral fluid testing?
Some of the drugs oral fluid testing can identify?
How are the drugs identified?
How is the sample collected?
Discussion on some of the key collection issues
The episode features Les Edinboro, PhD, Quest Diagnostics executive science director, toxicology and drug monitoring, and Jeff Gudin, MD, senior medical advisor, Quest Diagnostics drug monitoring. 

Dangerous drug combinations

Today’s podcast will cover dangerous drug combinations and the role of clinical drug monitoring. Some of the key information that will be shared includes:
What are dangerous drug combinations
What practitioners and the public need to know about them
How dangerous drug combinations can work together to lead to side effects
Certain combinations predispose people to a greater risk of overdose and death
Combinations that can affect drug levels, creating a pharmacokinetic drug–drug interaction
Certain combinations that may result in excessive sedation
How drug testing can help
A tool to identify dangerous drug combinations
How drug testing identifies metabolites unique to a substance
This episode features Quest Diagnostics Senior Medical Advisor Dr Jeff Gudin and Medical Science Liaison Dr Jack Kain.