It is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general CNS depressant. It was used in the 1960s and 1970s as an antianxiolytic, for the treatment of insomnia, and as a sedative.

Usual effects include relaxation, euphoria, and drowsiness, also reducing heart rate and respiration. Larger doses can bring about depression, muscular miscoordination, and slurred speech.

An overdose can cause delirium, convulsions, hypertonia, hyperreflexia, vomiting, renal insufficiency, coma, and death through cardiac or respiratory arrest. It resembles barbiturate poisoning but with increased motor difficulties and a lower incidence of cardiac or respiratory depression. Toxicity is treated with diazepam and sometimes an anticonvulsant.

Methaqualone was discovered by the Indian researcher M. L. Gujiral in 1955 during an anti-malaria research program. It was marketed as a sleeping pill during the 1960s under a number of tradenames including Renoval and Melsed and in combination with an antihistamine as Mandrax. From 1965 it was sold on the US market as Quaalude, Sopor and Parest, by 1972 it was the sixth most popular sedative in the US. The name Quaalude was apparently derived from the phrase 'quiet interlude' with an added 'aa' by the manufacturers in order to elicit a more positive public recognition, as was done with the drug Maalox. It was hoped that it was a 'safer' drug than barbiturates to use for sedation; however, it was found to have similar problems of tolerance and dependence.

Quaaludes became increasingly popular as a recreational drug during the 1960s. The drug was more tightly regulated in Britain under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and in the US from 1973. With its addictive nature clear, it was withdrawn from many developed markets in the 1980s, being made a Schedule I drug in the US in 1984. Up until the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu's Communist regime in the early 1990s, methaqualone (along with other sedatives) was used to pacify orphans in Romania's state-run orphanage system. Internationally, Methaqualone is a Schedule II drug under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

Smoking marijuana laced with methaqualone has become a major problem in South Africa, rivalling crack cocaine as the most abused hard drug. Its low price (R30.00 average against R150.00 for crack) means it is the prefered hard drug of the large low-income section of society. When smoked, usually mixed with marijuana, it causes an intensely euphoric rush.

Although methaqualone cannot be legally manufactured in the U.S. outside of research due to its Schedule I status, it is produced in other parts of the world as a legitimate pharmaceutical. It is available by prescription in Canada.

Read more at Wikipedia.org

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Trends and technology
From Clinical Laboratory Science, 1/1/02 by Gore, Mary Jane

Trends and Technology: Winter 2002

Trends and Technology welcomes releases and information about new products, services, Web sites, trends, and upcoming events. If your company has a Web site that you would like for us to review, please send us news for our Online section, or tell us about sites that would interest clinical laboratory personnel. These sites, as well as the new product information, are offered for reader information only. We cannot vouch for them and their presence here does not constitute an endorsement by CLS or ASCLS.

ONLINE

Since September 11, the online universe has been helping us in the real world. The Web has been a fantastic source of news and updates. Emails have kept us in touch. For this issue, I went looking for sites that provided links or resources for coping in our changed world.

A Community Healing site from the University of Virginia Health System and the Institute for Quality Health of Virginia has gathered many tips and articles related to coping and stress management, at http:// www.hsc.virginia.edu/home/specialprojects/community-healing/home.html. The fact sheets cover critical incident stress, how to get kids over their fear of flying, and post-traumatic stress disorder, among many other topics. Among its useful links is the federal Office of Personnel Management Manual for Managers on Handling Traumatic Events.

The National Institute of Mental Health page on emotional trauma and terrorism also has information on depression and anxiety: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/outline/responseterrorism.cfm.

At the site for NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in charge of protecting Americans in the workplace, a manual details the special stresses that healthcare workers face. Chapter Five of `Guidelines for Protecting the Safety and Health of Health Care Workers' covers sources of clinical employee stress and offers a list of solutions for reducing stress in healthcare settings (http:/ /www.cdc.gov/niosh/hcwold5g.html). Most of the messages at these sites were the same. In a nutshell: use your family and friends for support when needed, try to resume your normal life, and do something that will contribute to our society-- something that laboratory personnel do every day just by going to work.

Roche Diagnostics has launched My LabOnline.com, a web site designed to provide instant, around-the-clock access to documentation, technical material, training, and many other service offerings for customers. One of the key features is instant access to technical documentation such as package inserts and applications sheets. The site also streamlines access to marketing and application experts. Contact David Quick, (317) 521-3896.

NEW PRODUCTS

The Securline Blood Band helps busy laboratory personnel track and identify blood specimens. The band easily snaps together on a patient, even when a phlebotomist is wearing gloves. This saves time. The bands also are easier to read than other styles of blood bands and have a solid white information area where data can be written. Each band has 22 small removable prenumbered labels that can be applied to tubes and records. Contact Trish Ostroski at (800) 772-1122.

Securline Blood Band

The ADVIA 70 hematology system is designed for cost-effective operation in a variety of clinical settings including hospital, private, and clinic laboratories that want to provide a part differential. The system can be used to report results from emergency room, oncology, or pediatric satellite laboratories, as a back-up to a larger hematology system in the main laboratory or used as a primary analyzer in small to mid-size growing laboratories. This bench-top hematology system provides up to 22 parameters, complete CBC and 5-part white cell differential at a rate of 70 patient samples per hour. The ADVIA 70 Hematology System can be configured for either fully automated or open tube sampling. The system is sold with full state-of-the-art user interface with on-board patient storage of 100,000 samples. Contact Bayer Diagnostics at (914) 631-8000.

The Diagnostic Systems Group of Olympus America Inc. has introduced new Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) and Drugs of Abuse (DAT) reagents. In ready-to-use liquid formulations, the new TDM (Theophylline) and DATs (cocaine metabolite, methaqualone, PCP, and propoxyphene) feature 90-day to 60-day on-board stability with 14-day calibration stability on Olympus' full line of automated chemistry-immuno analyzers, including the AU400(TM) , AU600(TM), AU640(TM), and AU2700(TM) systems. The new Olympus TDM and DAT reagents are bar coded, providing greater operator convenience by enabling automated onboard reagent management. For more information, contact Timothy Votapka at (631) 756-7160.

Diagnostic Systems Group reagents Sigma Diagnostics has announced its launch of the KC1 Delta(TM) coagulation analyzer. This is a compact single-channel analyzer that offers precision and results using patented technology. The system can perform all routine clotting assays in small laboratories or physician's offices and provide basic coagulations in a quick turn-- around time. Contact C Lada Sochynsky at (314) 286-7948.

The BDProbeTec(TM) ET System's simple workflow and reagent design allow labs to perform advanced clinical molecular diagnostics. With a one-hour assay, the system can process six runs per shift, from 1 to 94 specimens per run, and reach up to 564 patient results per shift. Chlamydia trachomatis assay and Chlamydia trachomatis/Neisseria gonorrhoeae assays are available. For more information, contact Becton Dickinson at (800) 638-8663.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved two hepatitis C tests, both from Roche's Amplicor division. These tests are the first qualitative RNA tests approved for marketing by the FDA. Contact Elyse Margolis at (212) 213-7157.

A colony counting system featuring a compact viewer and comprehensive new image analysis software compliant with new Food and Drug Administration rules on electronic records has been introduced by Optomax. This video-based colony counting system provides fast, accurate counts of bacterial and mammalian colonies. The system can be used for plaque counts, ELISPOT assays, and other uses. Contact Michael Huns at (603) 465-3385.

BUSINESS NEWS

Abbott Laboratories announced its cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of Vysis, Inc. Abbott has its eye on buying Vysis, a genomic disease management company that develops, commercializes, and markets DNA-based clinical products providing information critical to the evaluation and management of cancer, prenatal disorders, and other genetic diseases. Contact Abbott, Kathleen T O'Neil (847) 938-3895.

Roche Diagnostics and Quest Diagnostics clinical laboratories are teaming up to develop and commercialize new gene-based medical tests and to expand access to genebased testing for patients, physicians, and hospitals. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The gene-based tests will be based on Roche Diagnostics' patented polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. In other news, Quest Diagnostics has purchased Clinical Diagnostics Services, a lab in the New York metropolitan area with 50 patient service centers. Contact Gary Samuels at Quest at (201) 393-5700.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Roche Diagnostics will make a DNA test that has been developed by the Mayo Clinic to rapidly identify anthrax in human and environmental samples available in the U.S. The new test can identify the presence of anthrax in less than one hour instead of days. These rapid DNA tests will be offered initially to laboratories at no charge. Roche plans to make this test available globally. About two dozen geographically dispersed LightCycler-equipped laboratories in the US will be able to conduct the test, beginning in mid-November. Mayo Clinic has been working with the federal government to make the test formula available to any federal agency, and is lending its expertise to state and federal health officials in the wake of the reported cases of anthrax exposure. Roche is working with the FDA to determine requirements for expedited regulatory approval. Contact Roche Diagnostics at (317) 845-2000.

Several industry manufacturers have joined the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's (PhRMA) Task Force on Emergency Preparedness. These companies are mobilizing their resources, knowledge, and personnel to support the U.S. government's efforts to counter the terrorist threat to public health. As part of the effort, for example, Abbott is offering distribution assistance to other manufacturers of diagnostic tests that may not have the capabilities, as well as offering collaborative expertise to governmental agencies to develop tests for the rapid diagnosis of biological agents. For information, contact Don Braakman, (847) 937-1237.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) told members of Congress in a letter that approximately $1.3 billion is needed for equipment, services, and training for the nation's hospitals to properly respond to mass casualty terrorist attacks. AHA President Dick Davidson said the letter addresses eight key areas relating to hospital disaster preparedness, which include communication and notification, disease surveillance, personal protective equipment, decontamination upgrades and facility enhancements. The funds would allow hospitals to function for a 24- to 48-hour period without federal or state intervention in the event of an attack that would bring up to 1,000 casualties to a hospital.

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