Surveillance of drug identification calls: an overlooked poison center responsibility

Drug identification calls from the lay public are a source of annoyance to many poison centers, but they also provide valuable information about abused and diverted pharmaceuticals. Daily toxicosurveillance can identify significant problems in advance of being recognized by law enforcement and drug diversion task forces. At our center a single person daily reviews evey chart for recognition of drug identification trends. In February the center received its first reQuest for identification of a tablet with M360 imprint, a generic product that contained 7.5 mg hydrocodone + 750 mg acetaminophen (Mallinckrodt). In 21 d after that identification, 78 additional identification reQuests, and during 2 mo further, a total of 222 requests for M360 identification were received. Law enforcement officials were notified and allowed drug intelligence to determine how this legal pharmaceutical was being diverted for illicit use. Poison Centers provide valuable drug identification service. Realtime surveillance of these calls can provide important information about drug abuse patterns