News and Press

Zolpidem (Ambien) Offered as Add-on Assay in Urine Test

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DES PLAINES, ILL. (August 11, 2010) - United States Drug Testing Laboratories (USDTL), a reference laboratory specializing in illicit drug and alcohol testing, released a zolpidem add-on assay for commercial use on Wednesday.  Zolpidem, classified as a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic, has been prescribed for use as a sleep-aide as early as 1992.  The reported emergency department visit rate due to zolpidem has increased 121 percent over the study period of 2003 through 2008, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN).

Zolpidem had not been included in standard urine assays because of the lack of a suitable commercially available homogeneous immunoassay.  Historically, laboratories have relied on cumbersome ELISA screening technology or direct analysis by LCMSMS, which is very costly.  A newly-released homogeneous immunoassay for zolpidem and its metabolite, zolpidem carboxylic acid, in a simple robust format, allowed zolpidem to be an inexpensive constituent of any custom profile.

A urine specimen provides approximately two to three days of drug history.  All presumptive positive specimens are confirmed by LCMSMS.

The zolpidem assay can be added on to any standard base UrineStat^SM 12-drug panel.  USDTL tests for over 50 drugs and alcohol biomarkers in urine, and the New Applications Department is continually developing new assays and methods for illicit drug and alcohol testing.  To order the zolpidem test, researchers and clinicians can contact Client Services at (800) 235-2367 or at customer.service@usdtl.com.

USDTL has been a leader in the drug testing industry since 1991 through research and assay development.  The laboratory performs more research than other laboratories 10 times our size.  USDTL has made significant breakthroughs in the field of analytical toxicology by developing procedures to diagnose newborns for prenatal drug exposure using meconium and umbilical cord tissue and provides workplace and rehabilitation drug testing cost effectively using hair and nail specimens.  To find out more, please visit www.usdtl.com.

Contact:

Heather Sliwinski, Marketing Communications Manager

heather.sliwinski@usdtl.com

(847) 375-0770

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