characterized due to minimal occurrences of suicide during these studies (less than 0.005%). Despite these findings, in 2008, the FDA required manufacturers to produce product labels with warnings about the potential of increased suicidal actions with the use of antiepileptic drugs. Any noticeable changes in the behavior or likelihood of suicide in patients during treatment with the mystery drug should be reported immediately to a healthcare provider. Although this month’s mystery drug
is not a controlled substance and the potential for abuse is considerably lower than most scheduled narcotics, pain management treatment must be monitored to assess patient compliance. Te drug has a fairly short half-life in serum (5.9
h) and over 98 percent of a given dose is eliminated from systemic circulation predominantly unchanged via renal excretion. Detection of the drug in urine and blood matrices can be achieved by an array of analytical techniques including homogeneous enzyme immunoassay, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC- MS) and capillary electrophoresis. This drug is an analog of gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA) and should not to be confused with pregabalin, a more potent GABA analog with a similar mechanism of action which is also marketed by Pfizer as Lyrica®. Brand names of the drug include Neurontin®,
Gabarone®, Horizant®, and Fanatrex®. The generic name of this month’s “Name that Drug” is gabapentin. ❚
Vinnette Batiste, PhD is a Laboratory Manager at Quest Diagnostics in Atlanta. Dr. Batiste has worked in the field of Toxicology at Quest Diagnostics since 1990 and
is an adjunct Professor at the University of Phoenix. She serves as an Alternate Responsible Person (RP) and as a National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP) Inspector. Dr. Batiste is member of the Society of Forensic Toxicology (SOFT) and a member of American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC).
www.datia.org
datia focus
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