Laboratory Data

Last Updated: March 2022

Laboratory data includes test orders and results and can be a source of information about overdoses, including new and emerging drug threats. Hospital, commercial, forensic, public health, or criminal justice laboratories testing human specimens and drug samples can provide reliable laboratory evidence that can inform overdose response efforts. Testing, particularly for non-fatal overdoses may not be routinely done since laboratory confirmation isn’t always necessary to treat a person who overdosed. Hospitals performing presumptive drug screens (e.g., immunoassays) may require additional definitive confirmation to confirm the presence of specific drug compounds, due to the lack of sensitivity among these screening tests. Forensic, state, or public health laboratories may be equipped to conduct definitive laboratory-based drug tests which may provide additional context for surveillance by identifying the concentrations of drugs present in patients at hospital presentation¹.