What is the typical SAMHSA cutoff for PCP in the screening panel?

What is the typical SAMHSA cutoff for PCP in the screening panel?

• A. 50 ng/mL
• B. 25 ng/mL
• C. 100 ng/mL
• D. 10 ng/mL

Answer: (B)

Phencyclidine (PCP) is screened in the SAMHSA 5-drug panel using a cutoff of 25 nanograms per milliliter. This value is chosen to balance sensitivity and specificity: it's low enough to detect genuine PCP use but high enough to avoid excessive false positives from substances that may cause weak cross-reactivity in screening assays. When a specimen’s PCP result meets or exceeds this threshold in the initial immunoassay, it is typically sent for confirmatory testing (such as GC-MS or LC-MS/MS), where a result at or above 25 ng/mL confirms positivity. The other numbers listed do not reflect the federally standard threshold for PCP.

Phencyclidine (PCP) is screened in the SAMHSA 5-drug panel using a cutoff of 25 nanograms per milliliter. This value is chosen to balance sensitivity and specificity: it's low enough to detect genuine PCP use but high enough to avoid excessive false positives from substances that may cause weak cross-reactivity in screening assays. When a specimen’s PCP result meets or exceeds this threshold in the initial immunoassay, it is typically sent for confirmatory testing (such as GC-MS or LC-MS/MS), where a result at or above 25 ng/mL confirms positivity. The other numbers listed do not reflect the federally standard threshold for PCP.