The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance Reporting Program for Emergency…

Cohort studyPublic health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)· Aug 2026

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance Reporting Program for Emergency Department Opioid and Stimulant Overdoses.

Rachel Culbreth, Jeffrey Brent, Kim Aldy … ToxIC DOTS Study Group

Toxicology & PoisoningCohort studyQ2IF 2.3

Fentanyl was detected in most emergency department opioid overdose patients tested.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance Reporting Program for Emergency Department Opioid and Stimulant Overdoses.

Rachel Culbreth … ToxIC DOTS Study Group

Public health reports (Washington, D.C. · Aug 2026

Purpose

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium (Toxicology Investigators Consortium) Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance (Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance) Reporting Program aimed to inform the epidemiology of opioid and stimulant overdoses presenting to the emergency department (emergency department) using structured patient interviews, medical record reviews, and the collection of blood specimens for qualitative analysis and quantitative drug concentrations.

Methods

Toxicology Investigators Consortium implemented Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance at 17 medical centers in the United States during 2022-2024.

n = 995 patients

86%

Results

86%

fentanyl was present in most opioid overdose cases

n = 995 patients

More results

Seventy percent (n = 694) of patients presented with a clinically suspected opioid overdose, 13.3% (n = 132) with a suspected stimulant overdose, and 17.0% (n = 169) with an undifferentiated overdose.

The median (range) fentanyl blood concentration in nonfatal overdoses was 4.5 (1.0-140.0) ng/mL.

Mortality was 1.0% (n = 10).

“

Conclusion

Future work should consider incorporating patient interviews and quantitative concentrations into overdose data collection to elucidate which drug(s) contribute to the overdose.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance Reporting Program for Emergency Department Opioid and Stimulant Overdoses.

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium Drug Overdose Toxico-Surveillance Reporting Program for Emergency Department Opioid and Stimulant Overdoses.

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