RT Journal
A1 Buchanan JA, Heard K, Burbach C, Wilson ML, Dart R
T1 PRevalence of levamisole in urine toxicology screens positive for cocaine in an inner-city hospital
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2011
FD April 27
VO 305
IS 16
SP 1657
OP 1658
DO 10.1001/jama.2011.531
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.531
AB 
To the Editor: Cocaine use is prevalent in the United States. Recently, we encountered multiple patients at our institution with unexplained agranulocytosis or cutaneous vasculitis. All had used cocaine contaminated with levamisole. Although levamisole is known to be present in cocaine specimens, it is not clear how often levamisole exposure from cocaine use leads to systemic levamisole absorption. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of levamisole in urine toxicology screens positive for cocaine in a 500-bed public safety-net hospital with 160 000 unique patient users in 2010.